Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning

Republican presidential candidate and former US President Donald Trump speaks during his New Hampshire presidential primary election night watch party, in Nashua, New Hampshire, on January 23, 2024. (REUTERS)
Short Url
Updated 27 January 2024
Follow

Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning

  • While supporters of Nikki Haley outspent the main outside group supporting Trump’s candidacy by more than two to one over the past year, Trump beat Haley in the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries

From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, wealthy donors have thrown tens of millions of dollars at Republican US presidential candidate Nikki Haley in an effort to keep Donald Trump from returning to the White House.
They have learned a hard lesson: Big money cannot win the Republican presidential nomination, at least not against Trump, who holds the support of a wide majority of the party’s voters.
Pro-Haley forces outspent the main outside group supporting the former president’s candidacy by more than two to one over the past year, according to a Reuters analysis of campaign finance disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The SFA Fund Inc, the main pro-Haley super PAC, has so far reported spending more than $70 million backing her run over the last year, and a super PAC affiliated with billionaire Charles Koch reported spending around $40 million to support Haley or oppose Trump.
In contrast, the main pro-Trump super PAC, known as MAGA Inc, reported spending about $50 million over the same period.
Despite that, Trump romped to two strong wins, first in Iowa on Jan. 15, and then on Tuesday in New Hampshire.
While Haley has vowed to carry on, Trump has driven all of his other rivals out of the race and has all but clinched the Republican nomination to face Democratic incumbent Joe Biden in the November general election.
In interviews with around a dozen donors and strategists who opposed Trump, a feeling of powerlessness seeped through.
“Trump has a base that basically is impenetrable. I don’t think money was the issue at all,” said metal magnate Andy Sabin.
Sabin himself is illustrative of some donors’ frenzied quest for a Trump opponent: At first, Sabin backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Then, put off by DeSantis’ foreign policy stance, Sabin decided to back US Senator Tim Scott.
When Scott dropped out, Sabin chose to back Haley. After she lost New Hampshire, however, Sabin said on Wednesday the race was effectively over.
Haley’s campaign said Sabin had only donated $6,600, the maximum allowed, and had been refunded. The campaign added they raised some $2.6 million in the 48 hours since her New Hampshire defeat on Tuesday. Haley has taken a tougher stance on Trump this week and has even fundraised off a warning he made to her donors to stop funding her.
Still, the apparent failure of anti-Trump Republicans to stop him highlights his popularity with his supporters, many of whom dismiss the multiple criminal prosecutions he faces as politically motivated. Trump says he is innocent of all the charges.
The disempowering of wealthy donors is yet another way that Trump, who is financially fueled by small contributions, has fundamentally remade the Republican Party.
“The idea that any single entity can take checks and spend hundreds of millions of dollars to impact a presidential campaign is just not a 21st-century reality,” said Ed McMullen, a top fundraiser for Trump, and his former ambassador to Switzerland.
Trump’s financial model was sparking imitators, McMullen said. “I’m finding more candidates who are starting to focus more on a broader donor base than a singular high-dollar donor base.”
Hard-line conservatives in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, for instance, already rely heavily on small campaign donors.
The Trump and Haley campaigns did not respond to requests for comment.

‘Total disconnect’
The disconnect between wealthy donors and Republican voters on the ground is apparent.
Keith Rabois, a Miami-based venture capitalist backing Haley, in December shared a graph on social media platform X showing her climb in public opinion polls. “This is exactly what a successful startup’s KPIs look like,” he wrote.
Key Performance Indicator, which aims to gauge business performance, is unlikely to be among the average Trump voter’s, or average American’s, daily lexicon.
“Key Performance Indicator? I just chuckle,” said Gary Leffler, a general contractor who was a precinct captain supporting Trump in Iowa and is known for driving a Trump-themed tractor to rallies.
“It’s a classic mistake made by people who have money. They take people out of the equation. It’s a total disconnect,” Leffler added of the donor class. “They’re not going to the grocery stores, to the home improvement stores, they’re not really connecting to people on the street.”
When asked about his comments and donors’ role, Rabois said he never believed “money matters” in politics, and said voters would again reject Trump.
Another illustration of the apparent diminishing power of old-line Republican money comes in Charles Koch, the fossil fuels magnate whose family built Americans for Prosperity (AFP), one of the most formidable US conservative advocacy and donor networks.
While Americans for Prosperity Action’s endorsement of Haley gave her more money and momentum, their advertisements and door-knocking failed to convince enough voters. To be sure, AFP Action’s 2024 strategy also involves congressional races, where it aims to prevent Democrats from gaining seats.

Coming home to Trump?
Reed Galen, a former Republican consultant who is raising money for the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, said donors might have had more success if they had started spending against Trump a year earlier, been relentless in their attacks, and benefited from stronger candidates.
Still, he conceded: “I’m not sure even that would have worked.”
Some donors who had previously bet against Trump have already begun to support him.
Dan Eberhart, a prominent donor who previously supported DeSantis, is now backing Trump. And Sabin, the metals magnate, said he would vote for Trump in November, although he said he would not give him a “nickel.”
Several donors told Reuters that Trump’s team had been calling to try to get them on board, including in at least one case by enticing them with the offer of a Trump meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
On Wednesday, Trump upped the ante, saying anybody making a contribution to Haley would be “permanently barred” from his political orbit.
One Haley donor said he feared speaking out against Trump for fear of getting on his bad side, adding, “That’s dangerous.”
Of course, Trump has long had some major, committed donors on his side, including Home Depot billionaire Bernie Marcus, who told Reuters he would likely fund Trump even if the candidate is convicted.
George Glass, a major Trump campaign fundraiser and his former ambassador to Portugal, said he expected “at least half” of donors who backed a non-Trump candidate would return to the fold, adding, “It’s pretty much a unification behind President Trump.” 


British climber breaks his own record with 19th Everest summit

Updated 59 min 24 sec ago
Follow

British climber breaks his own record with 19th Everest summit

  • More than 50 climbers have reached the summit since the spring climbing season began this month

KATHMANDU: British climber Kenton Cool successfully climbed Mount Everest for the nineteenth time on Sunday, extending his own record for the most summits of the world’s highest mountain by a non-Nepali.

More than 50 climbers have reached the summit since the spring climbing season began this month, taking advantage of a brief spell of good weather and typically calmer winds.

Mountain guide Cool, 51, first climbed Everest in 2004 and has since had an expedition almost every year taking clients up the world’s highest peak.

“Kenton summited Everest for the 19th time at 11:00 a.m. Nepalese time on Sunday,” a post on his Instagram account said.

His 15th summit in 2021 tied him with American Dave Hahn for the most summits by a non-Nepali climber, and his summit the following year gave him a solo title.

Cool was once told he would not walk unaided again after a rock-climbing accident in 1996 that broke both his heel bones.

He told AFP in a 2022 interview after his 16th ascent that his Everest record was “not that amazing” in the context of Nepali climbers’ achievements.

“I’m really surprised by the interest ... considering that so many of the Sherpas have so many more ascents,” he said then.

Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, 55, is also attempting to break his own world record for the most Everest summits with his 31st climb.


Gaza a ‘slaughterhouse,’ says British surgeon

Updated 18 May 2025
Follow

Gaza a ‘slaughterhouse,’ says British surgeon

  • Dr. Tom Potokar: ‘It’s difficult to describe in words what’s happening here’
  • ‘Absolutely horrific’ stories amid escalating Israeli attacks

LONDON: A British surgeon working in southern Gaza has described treating severe explosive injuries and compared the Palestinian enclave to a “slaughterhouse” amid escalating Israeli attacks.

Overnight, at least 130 people were reported killed as Israeli forces launched extensive ground operations in the northern and southern Gaza Strip, forcing the closure of some of its main medical facilities.

Dr. Tom Potokar said in a video that medical staff were treating severe explosive injuries in southern Gaza.

“It’s difficult to describe in words what’s happening here (with the) constant sound of bombardment, jets overhead,” he added.

Following the Hamas attack in October 2023 that killed nearly 1,200 people, Israeli forces launched an air, ground and sea campaign on Gaza, killing over 52,000 Palestinians and displacing and injuring hundreds of thousands.

Potokar said he treated a young woman who “is not yet aware that everyone in (her) family was killed in the onslaught.”

He added: “Another day of devastation here in Gaza ... The stories coming from the north ... absolutely horrific ... particularly around the Indonesian Hospital.”

The hospital, one of the largest partially functioning medical facilities in Beit Lahia, has ceased operations due to Israeli bombing.

In the south, the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis announced that it was out of service last week, while the Kuwait Specialized Hospital in Rafah said it can no longer operate its surgical department amid the Israeli attacks.

Since March, Israel has enforced a blockade on aid, prompting a warning from UN food experts about the imminent risk of mass starvation in Gaza.


Ex-servicemen to be re-deployed as security guards in Kashmir, says Indian govt

Updated 18 May 2025
Follow

Ex-servicemen to be re-deployed as security guards in Kashmir, says Indian govt

  • Around 4,000 veterans have been "identified" as non-combatant volunteers

SRINAGAR, India: Military veterans will be redeployed as security guards in Indian Kashmir, New Delhi said on Saturday.

The government of Jammu and Kashmir approved a "proposal for mobilising ex-servicemen to safeguard vital infrastructure across the union territory," according to a government press release.

Around 4,000 veterans have been "identified" as non-combatant volunteers, out of which 435 have licensed personal weapons, it said.

This will help by "significantly enhancing the capacity to respond effectively to localised security situations," the government added.

Veterans will work in "static guard" roles, focusing on "presence-based deterrence and local coordination."

India already has an estimated half a million soldiers permanently deployed in its part of Kashmir.

A similar veteran volunteer program took place with 2,500 veterans during the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the government.


Philippines records surge in tourists from Middle East 

Philippine Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco speaks at the SKIFT Asia Forum 2025 held in Bangkok on May 15, 2025.
Updated 18 May 2025
Follow

Philippines records surge in tourists from Middle East 

  • Philippines has been recognized as an emerging Muslim-friendly destination in recent years
  • Last year, it launched a beach for Muslim women travelers in top resort island Boracay

MANILA: The Philippines has recorded significant growth in tourists from the Middle East, the Department of Tourism said on Sunday, following various campaigns to attract more travelers from the region.

Tourism is a key sector for the Philippines, and its government has lately been trying to attract more visitors from the Middle East by creating Muslim-friendly destinations and ensuring that they have access to halal products and services. 

Those efforts, part of the Philippines’ move to diversify its economy away from dependency in the declining Chinese market, have led to a surge in international tourism arrivals from countries in the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperation Council, Philippine Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco said. 

“We are targeting markets such as the Middle East and the GCC, as well as India,” she said in a statement. 

“Because of our efforts to diversify, we are seeing, for example, from the Middle East and the GCC, an average of no less than 500 to 800 percent growth rate in terms of international tourism arrivals.”

The Philippines’ tourism sector has been recovering since the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced most tourism destinations in the country to shut down and resulted in a decline of foreign arrivals by more than 80 percent compared to 2019 numbers.

As tourism started to rebound, the Middle Eastern market was among the ones showing “promising signs of recovery” last year, a Department of Tourism report said. 

The UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Bahrain are among the countries showing a positive recovery rate, “signifying a steady return of visitors from the Gulf region,” according to the report. 

In 2024, the Philippines was recognized as an Emerging Muslim-friendly non-Organization of Islamic Cooperation Destination by the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index.

The index is an annual report benchmarking destinations in the Muslim travel market. 

The archipelagic country known for its white-sand beaches, diving spots and rich culture, also won the award in 2023 and has since boosted efforts to attract visitors from the Middle East.

Last year, it launched a beach for Muslim women travelers in Boracay, the country’s top resort island and one of the world’s most popular. 

The Department of Tourism also partnered with Emirates Airlines in April to jointly promote the Philippines, targeting the Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and European markets. 

“The beauty of coming to the Philippines is that it is a very diversified destination. We are able to cater to any type of traveler, whether you are a solo traveler, a couple, (or) a family,” Frasco said. 

“With the number of islands that we have and the readiness of these destinations, then we are excited to welcome people of all nationalities.”


British politician urges UK to act on Israel as Gaza faces ‘cruel destitution’

Updated 18 May 2025
Follow

British politician urges UK to act on Israel as Gaza faces ‘cruel destitution’

  • Liberal Democrat Layla Moran, of Palestinian descent, said a critical tone had yet to translate into meaningful policy change

LONDON: A British politician of Palestinian descent has called on the UK government to back its tougher rhetoric on Israel with tangible action, warning that people in Gaza are facing “unbearably cruel levels of destitution.”

Liberal Democrat Layla Moran said that although ministers had recently adopted a more critical tone, this had yet to translate into meaningful policy change, The Guardian reported on Sunday

“I remain frustrated that while the government’s words and tone have changed, in terms of concrete actions, not much has changed,” she said.

Her comments come amid growing international pressure over Israel’s expanded military campaign in Gaza and its restriction of humanitarian aid.

On Wednesday, Hamish Falconer, minister for the Middle East, described Israel’s aid blockade as “appalling,” “cruel,” and “indefensible.”

Foreign Secretary David Lammy also confirmed that the UK was in discussions with France and Saudi Arabia about recognizing a Palestinian state, ahead of a planned international conference in Paris in June.

Moran urged the UK to move forward with recognition, arguing it would “safeguard Palestinian interests and also send a very clear signal to Israel that there are consequences to their actions.”

She also criticized the government for continuing to allow trade from illegal Israeli settlements and for supplying arms to Israel, adding: “They’re still arming Israel when they shouldn’t be.”