Money that pays off: Major donors assume key positions in Trump admin.
4 Min Read
Eight of Donald Trump's cabinet candidates, including Linda McMahon for the Education Department, and their spouses contributed more than $37 million combined.
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President-elect Donald Trump listens with Linda McMahon during an America First Policy Institute gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate on November 14, 2024. (AP)
Almost three dozen of President-elect Donald Trump's future administration appointments have contributed to his campaign or allied entities, including tech billionaire Elon Musk, the highest revealed donor for the 2024 race, CNN reported.
Eight of his cabinet candidates, including Linda McMahon for the Education Department, and their spouses contributed more than $37 million combined, underlining the power of ultra-wealthy individuals in dictating US policy during the second Trump administration.
Two other cabinet nominees, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik and Florida Rep. Mike Waltz, moved funds from their campaign accounts to the pro-Trump campaign.
Musk, who contributed more than $277 million to Trump's campaign, is guiding a new Department of Government Efficiency initiative and has played an important role in the presidential transition, offering his opinions on job candidates, speaking with world leaders, and meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill as he considers how to reduce the federal government.
The majority of Musk's pro-Trump contributions went to a super PAC that the world's richest man established to help turn out voters on the Republican’s behalf in key swing states.
Outside of self-funded presidential candidates, no one has contributed more to shaping federal elections in a single election cycle, according to Brendan Glavin, research director of OpenSecrets, a neutral group that examines money in politics.
Read more: The Guardian reveals tech bosses who poured $394mln into US election
"Trump's donors are not just getting these plum ambassadorships on the side," Glavin stated. "Major donors are getting positions that affect policy."
CNN found that more than 30 of those given high-level posts in his government donated to his campaign or one of the main Trump-aligned outside groups, according to an FEC record examination.
According to an examination of campaign disclosures, five members of his first cabinet gave over $8 million to his committees or big outside groups that supported him. Donations from McMahon, Trump's SBA administrator during his first term, amounted to more than 90% of the total in the 2016 election.
The amount given to Trump in 2024 substantially exceeds that of Biden's cabinet members in 2020, with Trump appointees giving millions. A dozen of Biden's cabinet members contributed less than $100,000 to his 2020 campaign, but Trump's cabinet nominees gave tens of millions.
Linda McMahon, Trump's nominee for Education Secretary, was the second-largest contributor, giving $21.2 million. Other seven-figure donors include Howard Lutnick (Commerce Secretary), Scott Bessent (Treasury Secretary), Kelly Loeffler (Small Business Administration Director), and her husband Jeff Sprecher, who contributed more than $2 million.
Super PACs have no contribution or spending limitations, but they cannot formally collaborate with candidates. However, a recent FEC decision permits campaigns to collaborate with outside PACs on paid canvassing, giving Musk the ability to influence Trump's ground strategy.
Presidents frequently reward contributors and supporters with high-level jobs, sometimes assigning them to attractive, low-conflict locations in Europe or the Caribbean.
Donald Trump appointed several close associates and family members to key diplomatic positions, including Arkansas businessman Warren Stephens as US envoy to the UK and Charles Kushner, Ivanka Trump's father-in-law, as ambassador to France. Kushner, who donated $2 million to pro-Trump campaigns and received a presidential pardon, and Tom Barrack, chosen as ambassador to Turkey, are among the appointees.
Real estate mogul Steve Witkoff, selected as special envoy to the Middle East, is a long-time friend of Trump and donated $250,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC.
