Donald Trump raised record $239 million for his second inauguration

By Bill Allison

 

Hyundai Motor America, Nvidia Corp. and Target Corp. made seven-figure donations to fund President Donald Trump’s record-breaking haul for his second inauguration, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

 

Trump netted a record $239 million for the inaugural committee, easily topping the $107 million he raised eight years before. It’s also more than the combined $157 million that former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden — the Democrats he followed into office — raised for their three combined inaugurations. Unlike Trump, both accepted voluntary limits on the amount donors could give. 

 

The totals don’t include refunded donations. Trump’s 2025 committee returned more than $6 million it received to contributors.

 

 

The inaugural committee raised money to pay for receptions, parties and other events before and after the official ceremonies. The committee doesn’t have to reveal how it spent the money until next year.

 

Many corporate leaders publicly embraced Trump following his 2024 White House win, a stark reversal from the aftermath of his 2020 defeat, when executives largely distanced themselves from Trump after his supporters attacked the US Capitol in a bid to overturn his loss.

 

Some of the biggest donors will be impacted by Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China. Nvidia, which gave $1 million, stands to take a $5.5 billion hit from the administration’s decision to bar the company from selling its H20 chip in China over concerns that the product, designed to comply with previous US curbs, could be used to build a supercomputer. 

 

Retailers like Target and auto manufacturers like Hyundai and Toyota, whose US subsidiary gave $1 million, could also be impacted by additional costs levied on US imports. 

 

Crypto industry donors, who saw Trump enthusiastically embrace digital assets on the trail, also gave big. Ripple Labs was the second biggest contributor to the committee, chipping in $4.9 million. Coinbase Inc., Crypto.com, Galaxy Digital, Paradigm and Payward Inc., better known as Kraken, each gave $1 million. Robinhood Markets Inc., which offers a trading platform for digital currencies, contributed $2 million.

 

Poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. gave $5 million, the single biggest donation to the committee. There were more than 140 donors who gave $1 million or more, the filing shows. 

 

Federal law allows inaugural committees to largely determine their own rules about who can contribute and how much, though donations from foreign nationals and foreign corporations are barred from giving. 

 

Trump’s inaugural committee isn’t required to disclose how it spent the money or what remains in its bank account. It will have to report those amounts to the Internal Revenue Service in its tax return, which is not due to be filed until 2026. 

 

CEOs of prominent companies including Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, and Alphabet Inc.’s Sundar Pichai have sought to court Trump in his White House return. The quartet were among those seated in prominent positions at Trump’s inauguration.

 

Some of the biggest donors will be impacted by Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China. Nvidia, which gave $1 million, stands to take a $5.5 billion hit from the administration’s decision to bar the company from selling its H20 chip in China over concerns that the product, designed to comply with previous US curbs, could be used to build a supercomputer. 

 

Retailers like Target and auto manufacturers like Hyundai and Toyota, whose US subsidiary gave $1 million, could also be impacted by additional costs levied on US imports. 

 

Crypto industry donors, who saw Trump enthusiastically embrace digital assets on the trail, also gave big. Ripple Labs was the second biggest contributor to the committee, chipping in $4.9 million. Coinbase Inc., Crypto.com, Galaxy Digital, Paradigm and Payward Inc., better known as Kraken, each gave $1 million. Robinhood Markets Inc., which offers a trading platform for digital currencies, contributed $2 million.

 

Poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. gave $5 million, the single biggest donation to the committee. There were more than 140 donors who gave $1 million or more, the filing shows. 

 

Federal law allows inaugural committees to largely determine their own rules about who can contribute and how much, though donations from foreign nationals and foreign corporations are barred from giving. 

 

Trump’s inaugural committee isn’t required to disclose how it spent the money or what remains in its bank account. It will have to report those amounts to the Internal Revenue Service in its tax return, which is not due to be filed until 2026. 

 

CEOs of prominent companies including Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook, Meta Platforms Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, and Alphabet Inc.’s Sundar Pichai have sought to court Trump in his White House return. The quartet were among those seated in prominent positions at Trump’s inauguration.

 

Some of the biggest donors will be impacted by Trump’s tariffs and trade war with China. Nvidia, which gave $1 million, stands to take a $5.5 billion hit from the administration’s decision to bar the company from selling its H20 chip in China over concerns that the product, designed to comply with previous US curbs, could be used to build a supercomputer. 

 

Retailers like Target and auto manufacturers like Hyundai and Toyota, whose US subsidiary gave $1 million, could also be impacted by additional costs levied on US imports. 

 

Crypto industry donors, who saw Trump enthusiastically embrace digital assets on the trail, also gave big. Ripple Labs was the second biggest contributor to the committee, chipping in $4.9 million. Coinbase Inc., Crypto.com, Galaxy Digital, Paradigm and Payward Inc., better known as Kraken, each gave $1 million. Robinhood Markets Inc., which offers a trading platform for digital currencies, contributed $2 million.

 

Poultry producer Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. gave $5 million, the single biggest donation to the committee. There were more than 140 donors who gave $1 million or more, the filing shows. 

 

Federal law allows inaugural committees to largely determine their own rules about who can contribute and how much, though donations from foreign nationals and foreign corporations are barred from giving. 

 

Trump’s inaugural committee isn’t required to disclose how it spent the money or what remains in its bank account. It will have to report those amounts to the Internal Revenue Service in its tax return, which is not due to be filed until 2026.