Palm Beach, Florida — During a private GOP retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, donors were informed that a total of $76 million was raised in April by the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee, as revealed by two sources present at the briefing.
The retreat gathered affluent GOP donors and individuals being considered as potential vice presidential candidates by Donald Trump, including Senators Marco Rubio, Tim Scott, and J.D. Vance, Rep. Elise Stefanik, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem.
Attendees were transported from the Four Seasons hotel in Palm Beach to Trump's Mar-a-Lago club for a speech by the former president on Saturday. During his remarks, he criticized the felony charges brought against him and the prosecutors who have indicted him, as reported by a source present at the event. Trump referred to special counsel Jack Smith as "deranged" and an "evil thug," according to another individual in attendance.
"Once I got indicted, I said, 'Holy sh**, I just got indicted. Me. I got indicted,'" expressed the former president.
According to a fundraiser attendee, Trump mentioned that President Biden is overseeing a "Gestapo administration" targeting him.
"And it's the only thing they have," Trump added. " It's the only way they're going to win, in their opinion, and it's actually killing them. But it doesn't bother me."
There was also a panel featuring GOP Senate hopefuls Bernie Moreno of Ohio, Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana, and Dave McCormick of Pennsylvania on Saturday evening.
In a closed-door briefing by top campaign officials and pollsters, donors were told that based on internal polling, the campaign could be competitive in Minnesota and Virginia, two states that went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Mr. Biden in 2020.
Neither state is considered to be battlegrounds in 2024. Mr. Biden won Minnesota by about 7 points in 2020, and the state has not voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972. The 2020 gulf was even wider in Virginia, where Mr. Biden won by 10 points, although the state elected Republican Glenn Youngkin as governor the following year.
Republicans are not the only ones setting their sites on less-obvious states. Mr. Biden's campaign and Democrats have started to campaign more aggressively in Florida, which Trump won by about 3 points in 2020.
The Trump campaign and RNC revealed their latest fundraising numbers to donors on Saturday in an effort to narrow the financial gap with Democrats. Democrats currently hold a $25 million advantage in fundraising as of the beginning of April.
A top Trump advisor expressed that the fundraising results for the month "exceeded all goals."
During Friday night's dinner, which was attended by several senators, guests enjoyed a baby greens salad, beef filet and scallops, and key lime pie, as per a menu obtained by CBS. On Saturday night, guests were treated to coconuts branded with "Trump 47" as a dessert option.
