Billionaires, Millionaires and Lobbyists Cozy Up to Trump by Flooding the Inauguration with Record-Breaking Donations
Inaugural Financing Void of Limits and Effective Disclosure Is Susceptible to Corruption and Buying Official Favors
The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc., which has already become a record-breaking cesspool of special interest financing, has surpassed its goal of raising $150 million in private donations to finance the 60th Inaugural festivities and is likely to collect up to $200 million in the end.[1]
This far surpasses the previous record of $107 million to pay for Trump’s first Inauguration in 2017, and shatters all historical norms for Inaugural fundraising that have generally ranged from $20 million to $30 million from Reagan to Bush. Obama’s 2009 Inauguration committee raised $53 million while Biden’s 2021 Inauguration raised nearly $62 million in private contributions. (See Appendix A, “Estimated Private Donations to Presidential Inaugural Committees, 1973 – 2021”).
Nearly all the donations publicly disclosed so far have been in amounts of $1 million to $5 million each from companies and wealthy business leaders and lobbyists with business pending before the upcoming Trump administration. “EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!!!” Trump mused on his Truth Social account.[2]
Who Is Donating to Trump’s Inauguration?
Well, certain types of people want to be Trump’s friend, anyway. These million-dollar donors come from a small class of very wealthy industries in Big Tech, cryptocurrency, government contractors and others with lucrative contracts or business pending before the federal government. Some of the biggest donors had long been critics of Trump, especially following the January 6 Insurrection by Trump supporters, and who are now fearful of retributions by a vengeful president.
Public Citizen has been compiling a conflict of interest track chart of Inaugural donors who have publicly announced donations or pledges to the Trump Vance Inaugural Committee, Inc. (The Inaugural Committee eventually reports all donors of $200 or more to the Federal Election Commission, but not until 90 days after the Inauguration.)
Cryptocurrency firms and their CEOs have come out of the woodwork to embrace the new Trump administration, which has been signaling deregulation of the industry. Ripple has pledged $5 million for the Inauguration, followed by $1 million donations each from Coinbase, Moonpay, Kraken and others.
Wall Street and the financial sector are gushing over the next deregulatory administration, showing their enthusiasm with $1 million donations by hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Ondo Finance. Big Tech and Silicon Valley are joining the fray, with million-dollar donations from Apple CEO Tim Cook not to mention former adversaries of Trump, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerburg and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
All of these financers are seeking less government oversight of their business or lucrative government contracts, or both.
While the scope of the donations and, in many cases, the fear of retribution driving the donations, are unique to the second Trump Inauguration, the self-serving motivations of Inaugural donors in general are nothing new. Historically, corporations and government contractors who want something from the incoming administration overwhelmingly dominate the class of Inaugural donors.
According to an analysis by Public Citizen of donors to Bush’s 2005 Presidential Inauguration Committee, corporations and corporate executives contributed 96 percent of the total to pay for the festivities. Of the 127 contributors to Bush’s committee, 121 are either corporations or their chairmen, CEOs, presidents or owners.[3]
Even while Obama banned donations from corporations and lobbyists and limited individual donations to no more than $50,000 for his first Inauguration in 2009, almost 80 percent of the contributions disclosed by President-elect Obama’s Presidential Inauguration Committee came from 211 “bundlers.” More than $27.6 million of contributions came from 677 donations of at least $25,000. Prominent Wall Street figures comprised the largest portion of these bundlers. As common with every Inauguration, very little money comes from small donors. Only 113 donors to Obama’s first Inauguration reported giving just $200.[4]
As shown in Appendix A, the big jump in transforming Inaugurations from more of a ceremonial transition of power to lavish parties and balls began in earnest with Ronald Reagan in 1985. Nixon in 1973 only raised $4 million from private sources to finance his Inauguration, and Carter raised even less at $3.5 million. During the Second World War, Franklin Delano Roosevelt kept festivities for his 1945 Inauguration at a bare minimum, holding a luncheon but no balls or parades. Thomas Jefferson eschewed all of the Inaugural pomp and circumstance in 1801 and simply walked to the Capitol in casual clothing for his swearing in.[5] Presidents today cannot even fathom that type of dignity.
Rules of the Road
The very root cause of allowing Inaugurations to become the playground for special interests currying favor with the incoming administration is the absence of meaningful limits and disclosure of inaugural funding. A president-elect forms a Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC) as a nonprofit organization, registered with both the IRS and the FEC. There are no disclosure reports filed until 90 days after the Inauguration, and these reports disclose only donors of $200 or more. There is no disclosure of how the money is spent nor what happens to any surplus funds, other than very general and nondescript information provided to the IRS when the PIC disbands. Only foreign nationals are prohibited from making donations to an inaugural committee. Corporations, PACs and all other sources may make donations of any amount to a PIC,[6] unless the PIC itself sets voluntary limits.
Occasionally, a Presidential Inaugural Committee will set voluntary limits on the sources and amounts of donations in an effort to avoid a public perception of a tarnished and potentially corrupting affair. President Clinton’s 1997 committee limited contributions to $100 and sold ball tickets for up to $3,000. However, the committee benefited from a $9.9 million in rollover funds from his 1993 inauguration. The committee raised $29 million under the 1997 rules.
Obama’s 2009 PIC prohibited contributions from corporations, PACs, unions and lobbyists. It also placed a $50,000 cap on individual contributions, though bundling of individual contributions was permitted up to $300,000. Obama lifted many of these restrictions for his second Inauguration. George W. Bush limited contributions to no more than $100,000 in 2001 and no more than $250,000 in 2005. President Joesph Biden prohibited contributions from lobbyists and fossil fuel companies and their executives in 2021.
Trump has placed no special restrictions on the sources or amounts of donations to his 2025 Presidential Inaugural Committee.
What Does All This Money Buy?
While the public will not have precise records of who funded Trump’s second Inauguration until sometime in Spring, the historical patterns of inaugural donations and the glimpses of the companies and wealthy special interests that have publicly pledged to pay for Trump’s Inaugural parties and balls, leave little doubt that the current system allows for a cesspool of influence peddling.
Buying access to the president and the president’s inner circle is the name of the game. Like many recent PICs, the Trump Vance Presidential Inaugural Committee has outlined what donors can buy at various amounts of donations. Donors are separated into tiers depending on the amount they gave. Donors who contributed $1 million or raised $2 million from others for the Inauguration are in Tier 1. The lowest tier consists of donors of $50,000. Below that amount, there is no special access, other than for a small number of inaugural lottery winners from the general public.[7]
The committee is planning three days of events for supporters and wealthy donors, beginning with a Victory Rally on Jan. 18. There will be an exclusive “Cabinet Reception” for the Tier 1 donors to rub shoulders with incoming cabinet officials. A “Vice President’s Dinner” is also reserved for Tier 1 donors to share an intimate dinner with Vice President Vance and Usha Vance, and another “Candlelight Dinner” with Trump for donors of $250,000 or who raised at least $500,000.[8] There is even a “One America, One Light” Sunday service, at which donors of $100,000 or who raised at least $200,000 may pray with Donald and Melania Trump.[9]
For corporations and wealthy special interests attempting to influence public policy or secure lucrative government contracts, writing big checks to Trump’s Inaugural committee – or any Presidential Inaugural Committee – provides a bonanza of access to leading government officials and influence over public policy. This is a level of influence peddling only available to those who can afford to pay the price and is denied to those who are not wealthy.
Buying access may not always translate into buying government favors. But the sheer volume of money thrown at the feet of the president-elect through Inaugural donations certainly suggests that wealthy special interests believe it is worth the price.
Conclusion: Closing the Inaugural Window for Corruption
Legislation to establish source prohibitions, contribution limits and full disclosure of donations and expenditures for Presidential Inaugural Committees have been proposed unsuccessfully in previous congressional sessions in both the House and the Senate. The record-shattering abuses of the 2025 Trump Vance Presidential Inaugural Committee, Inc., are likely to elevate the importance of closing this window of opportunity for buying favors this time around.
One such measure – the “Inaugural Fund Integrity Act” – is expected to be reintroduced by Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA) and others before Trump’s Jan. 20th Inauguration. Similar legislative efforts are likely to follow.
In order to ensure that undue influence-peddling through Inaugural donations is mitigated, effective regulation of the financing of presidential inaugurations should include, but not be limited to:
- Source Prohibitions: Banning contributions from corporations, government contractors and lobbyists seeking government favors.
- Contribution Limits: Placing reasonable limits on the size of donations from any single source.
- Spending Restrictions: Requiring that funds be spent on activities directly related to conducting Inaugural festivities and not for personal use or the enrichment of the president-elect’s own business interests and political committees.
- Surplus Funds: Establishing that surplus funds be returned on a pro rata basis back to donors or disbursed to qualified nonprofit organizations unaffiliated with the president-elect.
- Routine and Full Disclosure: Disclosure reports should be filed with the Federal Election Commission on a regular basis, both before and after the Inauguration, and should include specific information on how the money was spent.
The possibility for corruption exists any time an officeholder accepts large donations from those who have business pending before the official. Congress should end the double standard for presidential inauguration fundraising. The celebration of an election victory should be viewed as part and parcel of the process of selecting our president.
Appendix A:
Estimated Private Donations to Presidential Inaugural Committees,
1973 – 2021
The law requiring Presidential Inaugural Committees to report donors of $200 or more 90 days after the Inauguration (36 U.S.C. §510) was adopted by Congress on March 27, 2002. The total costs of presidential inaugurations prior to that date rely on estimates provided by the respective inaugural committees and other sources.
The figures below do not include expenditures of public funds, which are managed by several different agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, for the swearing-in ceremony, security and maintenance.
Richard Nixon, 1973 — $4 million
Jimmy Carter, 1977 — $3.5 million
Ronald Reagan, 1985 — $20 million
George H.W. Bush, 1989 — $30 million
William Clinton 1993/1997 — $25 million/$29 million
George W. Bush 2001/2005 — $30 million/$42 million
Barack Obama 2009/2013 — $53 million/$45 million
Donald Trump, 2017 — $106.8 million
Joseph Biden, 2021 — $61.8 million
[1] Soo Rin Kim, “Trump Vance inaugural committee on track to raise record amount as pledged contributions surpass $150 million,” ABC News (Dec. 18, 2024), available at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-vance-inaugural-committee-track-raise-record-amount/story?id=116918692
[2] Anna Merlan, “With Tim Cook’s $1 million inaugural donation, Big Tech sends warm wishes to Trump,” Mother Jones (Jan. 4, 2025), available at: https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/01/tim-cook-apple-inauguration-trump/
[3] Public Citizen press release (Jan. 13, 2005), available at: https://www.citizen.org/?s=%22New+Public+Citizen+Analysis+Finds+Corporations+and+Their+Executives+Have+Contributed+96+Percent+of+Bush%E2%80%99s+Inauguration+Funds%22
[4] Public Citizen press release (Jan. 14, 2009), available at: https://www.citizen.org/?s=The+Presidential+Inauguration%2C+Brought+to+You+by+the+Few%2C+the+Wealthy
[5] Id.
[6] 36 U.S.C. 510, and 11 C.F.R. Parts 104 and 110.
[7] Soo Rin Kim, “Trump Vance inaugural committee on track to raise record amount as pledged contributions surpass $150 million,” ABC News (Dec. 18, 2024), available at: https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-vance-inaugural-committee-track-raise-record-amount/story?id=116918692
[8] Id.
[9] Chris Walker, “A Trump Inauguration event is charge $100K for donors to ‘pray’ with him,” Truthout (Dec. 30, 2024), available at: https://truthout.org/articles/a-trump-inauguration-event-is-charging-100k-for-donors-to-pray-with-him/