Mega Donors & Pay to Play

1989-06-12 Megachurch founder and televangelist Jerry Falwell campaigned for a so-called “moral majority”, calling Regan “God’s instrument”, labeling Democrats as radicals, and weaponizing religion for political power. He stated, “Our goal has been achieved. The religious right is solidly in place and religious conservatives in America are now in for the duration”.

https://centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/ljs2007051801/#:~:text=Of%20course%2C%20leading%20the%20Reagan,Falwell’s%20earliest%20days%20in%20politics.

https://brewminate.com/from-pews-to-power-how-evangelicals-took-over-the-republican-party-in-the-20th-century/#:~:text=Jerry%20Falwell%20/%20Public%20Domain,Ronald%20Reagan%20to%20the%20presidency.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-the-moral-majority-definition-issues.html#:~:text=The%20Decline%20of%20the%20Moral,regained%20its%20former%20political%20relevance.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_Majority#:~:text=Falwell%20offered%20an%20optimistic%20public,now%20in%20for%20the%20duration.%22

2009

2009-02-23 “Buy when there’s blood in the streets, even if the blood is your own”.

https://libertythroughwealth.com/2020/03/26/way-to-wealth-invest-when-blood-streets/

https://investorplace.com/hypergrowthinvesting/2025/04/this-is-what-it-looks-like-to-buy-stocks-when-theres-blood-in-the-streets/

https://www.bitget.com/wiki/when-there’s-blood-in-the-streets-quote

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/012116/warren-buffett-be-fearful-when-others-are-greedy.asp

PAY WALL https://www.forbes.com/2009/02/23/contrarian-markets-boeing-personal-finance_investopedia.html

2010

2010-01-21 The Supreme Court ruled 5-to-4 to strike down restrictions on independent political spending by corporations and labor unions (see Citizens United). By allowing unlimited independent spending, “Super PACs” can raise and spend vast sums of money in pay-to-play schemes and even hide donations behind 501(c)(4) companies (for example, Turning Point USA is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit which can participate in partisan political campaigns).

https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/464331510

https://www.fec.gov/legal-resources/court-cases/citizens-united-v-fec/

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/former-gop-ohio-speaker-lobbyist-guilty-in-60-million-bribery-scheme

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/state/2023/02/15/lobbyist-neil-clark-captured-on-undercover-fbi-tapes/69906257007/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Money_(TV_series)

2013

2013-01-01 JD Vance was a former venture capitalist with investors like Peter Thiel (Palantir, PayPal, Facebook), Eric Schmidt (Google), and Marc Andreessen (Silicon Valley Investor).

https://www.axios.com/2024/07/16/jd-vance-venture-capital-career

https://www.npr.org/2024/07/17/g-s1-11654/five-things-to-know-about-jd-vances-connections-to-tech-billionaires

2015

2015-01-01 McMahon was a megadonor for the 2016 Republican nomination process, donating $5M to the Donald J. Trump Foundation. Between 2015 and 2016, McMahon donated $1.2M to Future-45, a SuperPac which funded anti-Bernie Sanders advertisements.

https://wrestlenomics.com/articles/2024/linda-mcmahon-contributed-more-than-10-million-to-help-elect-donald-trump-in-2024-a-breakdown-of-her-political-donations/

https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/01/trump-administration-profile-linda-mcmahon/

https://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/linda-mcmahon-donald-trump-donations

2016

2016-01-01 Linda McMahon donated $6M to Trump-supporting SuperPAC Rebuilding America Now.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/10/16/wwe-co-founder-linda-mcmahon-gave-6-million-to-pro-trump-super-pac/

https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2016/10/linda-mcmahon-gives-6-m-boost-to-pro-trump-super-pac-run-by-rick-scott-106526

https://www.wrestlezone.com/news/765213-linda-mcmahon-donated-6-million-to-donald-trumps-presidential-campaign-after-calling-comments-against-women-deplorable

https://www.courant.com/2016/10/17/mcmahon-gave-6m-to-pro-trump-super-pac-gop-challengers-trail-dems-in-congressional-races/

2021

2021-08-29 JD Vance was quoted as attributing his entire career to Peter Thiel. Thiel invested in JD Vance’s venture capital firm and backed Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign as the ‘largest amount given to a single candidate in congressional history’.

https://www.businessinsider.com/jd-vance-venture-capital-opioid-nonprofit-tech-record-ohio-senate-2021-8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtRPLCso0Sw

2024

2024-04-16 The Bradley Foundation donates heavily to Turning Point USA, America First Legal, Conservative Partnership Institute, and America’s Future.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/16/trump-rightwing-groups-funds

2024-12-18 Powerful CEOs and other megadonor billionaires met at Mar-a-Lago for a dinner party.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/19/us/politics/trump-elon-musk-bezos-mar-a-lago.html

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/17/1219887501/here-now-anytime-12-17-2024

https://www.npr.org/2024/12/13/nx-s1-5227874/trump-bezos-zuckerberg-amazon-facebook-open-ai-meta-inauguration-fund

2025 January

2025-01-17 United Airlines donated $1M to Trump’s inauguration.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/united-airlines-donates-1-million-trump-inaugural-fund-2025-01-17/

https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/united-airlines-holdings/summary?id=D000021464

2025-01-17 JBS, the world’s largest meatpacker, made a $5m donation to Trump’s inauguration.

https://westernagnetwork.com/dollar5m-jbs-donation-raises-pay-to-play-questions-for-trump

https://mightyearth.org/article/brazilian-meat-giant-jbs-was-largest-donor-to-trumps-inauguration/

https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2025/06/meatpacking-giant-jbs-debuts-on-nyse-six-months-after-5m-trump-donation/

2025-01-17 Several businesses donated to Trump’s inaugural fund (pay to play).

https://www.goodsuniteus.com/

https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup

2025 March

2025-03-04 Trump hosted one of multiple millionaire dinners at Mar-a-Lago, “MAGA Inc. Candlelight Finance Dinner”.

https://www.wired.com/story/people-paying-millions-donald-trump-mar-a-lago/

2025 July

2025-07-31 The White House announced they would be constructing a 90,000 square foot ballroom, which they said would be paid for through private donations. They also promised the construction would not interfere with or cut into the East Wing.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/2025/07/the-white-house-announces-white-house-ballroom-construction-to-begin/

2025 August

2025-08-06 Tim Cook presented Trump with a gold-themed plaque during Apple investment announcements. Numerous CEOs exhibited sycophancy during this term. The term “apple polisher” is an informal, often derogatory term for a sycophant or a “suck-up.”

https://www.nytimes.com/video/business/economy/100000010328133/trump-apple-investment.html

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/0O9QhwIkj5w

2025 September

2025-09-05 The White House hosted a big-tech dinner party to carve up the country amongst themselves.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-hosting-dinner-tech-giants-business-leaders-white-house/

2025-09-05 Tesla introduced a new pay package to make Elon Musk the first trillionaire in history.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/05/business/elon-musk-tesla-new-pay-package

2025 October

2025-10-23 Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had been convicted of money laundering. Later that month, Trump told 60 Minutes he did not know Zhao even though Binance facilitated a $2 billion purchase of a World Liberty Financial stablecoin founded by Trump’s family.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-binance-cryptocurrency-tycoon-he-pardoned-dont-know-who-he-is/

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/crypto/binance-pardon-trump-changpeng-zhao-crypto-rcna239371

https://x.com/cz_binance/status/1981404850832494666

2026 March

2026-03-27 Trump attended a Saudi investor meeting in Miami.

https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-speaks-at-saudi-investors-forum-in-miami/676455

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEuuPpq_AMQ

2026 May

2026-05-23 Hawaii banned dark money elections like Citizens United, in a strategy known as the “Corporate Power Reset”.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBGpEcPrbso&list=WL&index=6