A few of Donald Trump’s largest billionaire donors ahead of the 2020 election have kept their wallets mostly closed this year.
Miriam Adelson and her husband Sheldon disclosed spending $218 million on federal campaigns and causes in 2020. But Sheldon died in January, and, so far, Miriam has given just $5,000 in 2021.
Marvel Entertainment chairman Ike Perlmutter and his wife Laura donated $24 million in 2020, according to records from the Federal Election Commission. That was enough to make him the ninth-largest billionaire donor last cycle. A longtime neighbor to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., Perlmutter’s connections to Trump run deep. Laura Perlmutter once donated $1 million to the infamous Donald J. Trump Foundation, which the New York Attorney General shut down for illegally misusing charitable funds in 2018. When Trump was running the country, he reportedly gave the comic-book tycoon an informal role overseeing the Department of Veterans Affairs. Now that Trump is out of office, the Perlmutters have donated just $33,200 in 2021, with the money to a congressman and a senate candidate who have both expressed support for the former president.
Kelcy and Amy Warren both donated big to Trump in 2020. In 2017, Trump’s executive order paved the way to finish construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Kelcy Warren’s oil and gas pipeline company, Energy Transfer. After Trump won the election, Energy Transfer shares soared nearly 30% between November 9, 2016, and Inauguration Day in January 2017. Ahead of the 2020 election the Warrens shelled out $14 million, according to FEC records. This year, they’ve given just $56,800, supporting Republicans and West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat.
Even though the donors haven’t shelled out big sums so far this year, they may get back in the giving spirit when the midterms roll around next year. And even bigger money might come in 2024—especially if Donald Trump is back on the ballot.
