Overview
- America’s 100 wealthiest donors supplied about 7.5% of all federal election spending in 2024, roughly one out of every 13 dollars.
- More than 80% of their 2024 contributions went to Republicans, with President Trump raising 15 times his 2016 haul from this group as Kamala Harris drew triple Hillary Clinton’s 2016 total.
- The Post’s data shows billionaire political giving has expanded nearly 140-fold since 2000, accelerated by outside spending vehicles enabled after the 2010 Citizens United ruling.
- Visible access matched the money, with a row of tech billionaires seated unusually close to the president at January’s inauguration, a departure from tradition noted by the Associated Press.
- Forbes tallies Trump’s Cabinet at a combined $7.5 billion in net worth, while reporting also points to limits of money in politics, citing Zohran Mamdani’s defeat as a counterexample.