Several hundred supporters of former President Trump gathered in Newport Beach early Saturday morning, cheering on the presumptive Republican presidential nominee and hoping to catch a glimpse of his motorcade en route to an exclusive fundraising event on closed Harbor Island.
As people waved flags that said “Trump 2024” and a banner that said “Never Give Up!” and “We stand united with Trump!” Andrea Flores, 49, of Rancho Santa Margarita, stood on a corner wearing a red Trump baseball cap and chatted with a fellow supporter, pausing her conversation periodically to cheer as she drivers honked their horns. . A song played on a speaker with the lyrics “Trump, President Trump, he's the only one who can do the job.”
“I would like people to put aside the hatred they have for him and do what is best for the country,” Flores said. “Right now there are only two candidates, one who can't walk or talk and another who they hate; you have to choose the poison.”
Flores, a Republican, said the economy and the border are among her top issues in this election. Regarding Trump's recent conviction, several supporters in the crowd, including Flores, said the charges were “politically motivated.”
Saturday's event was the latest stop on a three-day fundraising trip in California – his first forays with donors after a New York jury convicted him of 34 counts of falsifying business records for about $130,000 in payments to adult film actor Stormy Daniels, who alleges that she had sex in Lake Tahoe during a golf tournament, in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has lagged behind President Biden in fundraising, both nationally and in California, but has received an infusion of cash since the verdicts were announced on May 30. In particular, he reported raising $53 million in the first 24 hours after the trial ended and $18 million. at fundraisers in San Francisco and Beverly Hills during this period.
On Saturday, donors spent up to $100,000 to attend the Newport Beach roundtable and luncheon at a Harbor Island mansion overlooking Newport Bay — the cheapest tickets of the trip. A line of smartly dressed people, some dressed in red, white and blue, waited for vans to take them from the Hyatt Regency to the fundraising event Saturday morning.
Donald Holly Sr., 82, woke up Saturday morning with butterflies in his stomach. It would be the first time he had seen Trump and the Fullerton resident was ecstatic. He brought a bottle of mineral water to calm his stomach as he approached the hotel. His son Richard Holly, 56, followed closely, brushing his father's suit with a roller to remove any clumps of cat hair.
“I totally admire and admire Donald J. Trump, a very successful businessman,” said Donald Holly Sr. “He just knows how to run a business and he certainly knows how to run a country. All you have to do is look at what we had and, as far as inflation is concerned, there are no world wars; “Everything was going well between 2016 and 20.”
Trump would not have botched the exit from Afghanistan either, he said, referring to the chaotic withdrawal of US troops in 2021 under President Biden.
The Hollys own Brea Electric, which Yorba Linda resident Richard Holly is now handing over to his children, the fourth generation of Hollys to run the small Orange County business. Part of his reason for supporting Trump, Richard Holly said, was the former president's support for small businesses and family values.
“We're here because we like the traditional conservative family values that we grew up with,” Richard Holly said. “California is different than it was when I was a kid.”
Trump supporters in Newport Beach on Saturday. The former president attends a fundraiser.
(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)
The Newport Beach fundraiser will take place on Harbor Island, one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in this coastal enclave, filled with waterfront mansions and residents who have high expectations of privacy.
The event is scheduled to take place at the home of health insurance company co-founder John Word and his wife, Kimberly, whose home appeared to be decorated with red, white and blue bunting along the boardwalk and along doors and windows of the property. Billionaire tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, who lives on nearby Lido Island, co-hosted the event..
On Friday night, Trump headlined a fundraiser at the Beverly Hills Italianate mansion of Lee Samson, a longtime philanthropist who serves on the board of directors of the Republican Jewish Coalition. He has hosted many fundraisers for Republican politicians over the years, including one for Trump in 2019 that raised $5 million and another in 2020 with the then-president's daughter, Ivanka, supporting his re-election that raised $2 million. millions of dollars.
Donald Trump waves to his fans as he leaves a house where his campaign fundraiser was held in Beverly Hills on Friday, and fans and protesters remain outside.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Nearby, a Burbank artist organized a birthday greeting for the former president, who will turn 78 on Friday. A few dozen supporters waved flags outside the event, including one featuring a QAnon conspiracy theory that referenced a hoax that John F. Kennedy Jr. is still alive, as some neighbors watched the spectacle from a distance.
Tickets for Friday's event cost up to $250,000 per person, and the event raised $6 million for his 2024 campaign, Trump told the crowd, according to attendee Gregg Donovan, 64, of Santa Monica.
Donovan, dressed in his red tailcoat and black top hat uniform from his previous role as he The Beverly Hills goodwill ambassador said he was moved to buy a $5,000 ticket because seeing Trump's re-election bid in person “was history in the making.”
The longtime Trump supporter said he was alarmed by Trump's conviction, because “if it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.”
He said he expects Trump to win in November, in part because among his friends, Trump has more support than in 2020, especially among immigrants who are angry about the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border.
After Trump was introduced by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (reportedly among the elected officials being vetted as a possible running mate) and Samson, the former president spoke for about 45 minutes and promised the first day in office Oval Office secure the border and “drill, baby, drill,” Donovan said.
Samson is the founder of Windsor Healthcare Management, one of the largest skilled nursing and rehabilitation providers in California and Arizona. One of the group's facilities was accused in 2020 of pressuring patients to move so it could accept more lucrative patients during the pandemic, according to the New York Times.
A spokesperson for Windsor Park Care Center in Fremont, where the incident allegedly occurred, declined to comment to the newspaper, but Samson told him: “Regardless of my political affiliation, Windsor's commitment to protecting its residents will never be compromised.”
President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' re-election campaign seized on the allegations.
“If you want to know who Donald Trump is fighting for, just look at who he spends his time with: scammers, criminals and… in this case, a billionaire who evicted seniors from their nursing homes during a deadly pandemic to line his pockets. ”said Sarafina Chitika, campaign spokesperson. “Trump is making it clear to America's seniors that if he wins this November, he will happily sell them out to his billionaire donors, destroying Social Security and Medicare while he approves tax breaks for his rich and extreme allies.”
The evening's fundraiser ended relatively early because many guests were Jewish and needed to return home for Shabbat, Trump said, according to Donovan. Attendees in dresses and cocktail attire took to the quiet Beverly Hills street shortly before sunset.
As the Trump motorcade left shortly before 8 p.m., Robin Dominguez, 67, threw a sign into the air that read “TRUMP GUILTY” and, on the other side, “LOCK HIM UP.” He was wearing a red T-shirt that said in white letters: “Make racists afraid again.”
A woman in a red MAGA hat yelled at Dominguez, “Shame on you,” and then told him that if he didn't like the United States, he should move to Venezuela. The window of a red pickup truck rolled down as it passed and a preteen passenger yelled, “Hey ma’am! Leave that sign. “The case was illegitimate.”
A Donald Trump supporter stands in front of a house in Beverly Hills.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Dominguez said many people told him Friday that Trump's trial was a sham. But he said, “How can it be a conspiracy when 12 people found him guilty?”
On Thursday in San Francisco, Trump told donors to venture capitalist David Sacks' Pacific Heights property that he had raised $12 million. Ohio Sen. JD Vance, another elected official reportedly on Trump's list of potential running mates, was among his presenters at the event that cost individuals up to $300,000 for tickets and up to $500,000 for couples.
“He said if there were no cheating, he would win this election today,” said Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney whose firm represents the Trump campaign and attended the fundraiser. “But there are pitfalls, so we must be vigilant. He talked about how we would do things differently this time, that we have a lot of lawyers and smart volunteers prepared and things like that.”
