Trump Kicks Off 2020 Re-Election Campaign Tonight With $35,000 Per Person Fundraiser at His DC Hotel

• Event Expected to Raise $10 Million

• Some Will Pay $100,000

• Protestors Expected

On the day he was inaugurated Donald Trump became the first President of the United States who had never previously served the public, either in office or in the military. He also became the first president to file papers for re-election on Inauguration Day. And Wednesday evening, Trump will officially kick off his 2020 re-election campaign, 159 days into his presidency, with a $35,000 per-person fundraiser. Some attendees will pay “$100,000 each to be there,” according to NPR.

In typical Trump fashion, that event will be held at his Washington, D.C. hotel, for which his campaign will pay him handsomely.

“There’s nothing flat-out illegal about it, but it’s pay-to-play,” Richard Painter, former White House ethics counsel in the George W. Bush administration, told NPR. “The appearances are terrible.”

Trump’s predecessor, former President Barack Obama, waited over two years before beginning his re-election campaign. 

Wednesday night’s event is expected to attract 300 attendees, raising about $10 million for Trump’s re-election campaign, and for the RNC, according to Bloomberg News, which notes tonight’s event renews the same “legal and ethical questions that arose during his first run.”

Trump’s campaign was a boondoggle for his company’s fortunes, which essentially go directly to him and his family. He made money leasing space to his campaign in Trump Tower, and the Secret Service paid him to fly on his personal airplane, Bloomberg notes. 

In fact, after the campaign was over, CNN Money reported Trump’s businesses made nearly $12.5 million, as a result of campaigning.

The biggest beneficiary was Tag Air Inc., a Trump-owned company that operates his airplanes and was paid $8.7 million. The next biggest payment — $2.2 million — went to Trump Payroll Corp. and Trump Tower Commercial LLC.

Trump’s hotels and golf clubs received $1.4 million. Some $238,000 went to Trump restaurants and food services. 

His son’s company, Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing, got $32,196.

“In total,” NPR reported, “$1 out of every $10 that went into his presidential campaign went back to Trump in some way, and $1 out of every $5 Trump donated found its way back Trump brands and properties.”

New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush reports the event will be closed to the press, even to the White House pool reporters, reneging on a prior agreement:

“We will allow the pool to cover the president’s remarks at the event tonight,” Sander Huckabee Sanders told reporters earlier today, Bloomberg’s Jennifer Jacobs had reported.

Politico White House correspondent Tara Palmieri adds:

It’s clear there will be protestors tonight, especially over health care:

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Image by Mark Dixon via Flickr and a CC license