Former President Trump's stop in the blue bastion of San Francisco proved fruitful in more ways than one.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee not only raised approximately $12 million at a fundraiser Thursday night, but he also officially secured the endorsement of a major technology investor.
The fundraiser was hosted by David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, two of Silicon Valley's biggest guns and co-hosts of the popular podcast “All-In.”
And it took place at Sacks' multimillion-dollar home in San Francisco's upscale Pacific Heights neighborhood.
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Tickets for the sold-out event ranged from $50,000 per person to get in to $500,000 per couple for special access and a photo with Trump.
A couple of hours before the fundraiser, Sacks took to social media to formally endorse Trump.
“I support many, but I support few. But today I support our 45th president, Donald J. Trump, to be our 47th president. My reasons are based on four main issues that I believe are vital to America's prosperity, security, and stability: issues where the Biden administration has gone seriously wrong and where I believe President Trump can bring us back,” Sacks wrote in X.
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Sacks said, “Voters have experienced four years of President Trump and four years of President Biden. In technology, we call this A/B testing.”
“With respect to economic policy, foreign policy, border policy and legal justice, Trump performed better. He is the president who deserves a second term,” he argued.
According to sources familiar with Thursday's fundraising dinner, Sacks reiterated his praise for Trump and explained why he supports the presumptive Republican nominee in his 2024 election rematch with President Biden.
While his official endorsement came Thursday, Sacks first signaled his support for Trump during a March meeting he had with Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, and Donald Trump Jr., the former president's eldest son, in Washington. D.C.
The impromptu meeting at the Conrad Hotel, held hours after Trump clinched the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was first reported by The New York Times and confirmed by Fox News. It was in that meeting that Sacks indicated that he was fully committed to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
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Vance, who is a Trump ally and possible 2024 running mate close to Trump Jr., spent time a few years ago in the San Francisco area working for hedge funds in the technology sector. Sources say he was instrumental in organizing the biggest fundraiser.
According to sources, Sacks said at the fundraiser that “this all started when JD Vance called and asked if we could host an event for President Trump. Without JD's advice and encouragement, this would never have happened.”
Trump is heading south to Beverly Hills for a fundraising event on Friday and a financial event on Saturday in Newport Beach in Orange County.
Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Phoenix on Thursday. (AP Photo/Rick Scuter)
The trip does not mean the Trump campaign believes an overwhelmingly blue California could be on the cards.
Instead, Trump appearances, such as those at two sold-out fundraisers in the Bay Area on Wednesday, headlined by Vice President Harris, and President Biden's fundraisers in the San Francisco area last month past, they are the latest proof that the Golden State remains a crucial ATM for campaign money.
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Trump's campaign said as much on Monday, and the Republican National Committee (RNC), buoyed in part by the former president's guilty verdicts in his criminal trial, raked in a staggering $141 million in fundraising in May.
Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation's history.
The former president's campaign noted that in the first 24 hours after last week's verdict, she and the RNC raised nearly $53 million in fundraising, which counted toward May's total.
President Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia on May 29. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
Biden's campaign has also been fundraising in the wake of the Trump verdict, with a source familiar telling Fox News that “the 24 hours after the verdict were one of the Biden campaign's best 24 hours of fundraising since its launch”.
Trump has attempted to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the Republican National Committee surpassed Biden's campaign and the Democratic National Committee for the first time.
Fundraising, along with public opinion polls, is a key metric used to measure the strength of candidates and their campaigns. Money raised can be used to strengthen grassroots outreach and get-out-the-vote operations, staffing, travel and advertising, among other things.
Fox News' Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.
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