The Hottest Ticket Across Corporate America: Trump’s Inauguration
Rebecca Ballhaus, Dana Mattioli, Maggie Severns and Alex Leary
7 min read
The National Mall and the inauguration stand on Sunday as final preparations are made. - Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
Eight years ago, Donald Trump’s inauguration smashed fundraising records and drew in high-dollar donors across the corporate spectrum. This month’s events will make the 2017 affair look like a bake sale.
Corporate interest in Donald Trump’s inauguration has grown so intense in recent weeks that allies of the president-elect have been soliciting $10 million to $15 million donations to spread across various Trump groups, according to people familiar with the fundraising. Some prospective donors are even getting wait-listed for tickets, the people said.
The official inauguration festivities have been at capacity since early January, according to people familiar with the planning. Some six-figure donors have asked consultants to help them in the door and have been turned away. The inauguration has raised more than $200 million so far, according to people briefed on the fundraising, and could double what it raised eight years ago.
A handful of companies have made donations of more than $10 million, according to some of the people familiar with the fundraising, distributing their cash between the Trump inauguration and allied super PACs and nonprofits.
One such company, according to a person familiar with the matter, is Ripple, which is one of several crypto companies mounting a lobbying push with Trump ahead of the inauguration. The company gave $5 million worth of the cryptocurrency it launched, XRP, to the inaugural committee, and its CEO and chief legal officer met with Trump last week. The company didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Donald Trump speaking at a December news conference, accompanied by Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. - Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
A series of Fortune 500 companies also have cut checks in recent weeks. JPMorgan Chase is contributing $1 million to the inauguration, according to a spokeswoman for the bank. Comcast, McDonald’s, Delta Air Lines, defense contractor Lockheed Martin and pharmaceutical maker Johnson & Johnson are also giving $1 million, according to people familiar with the matter. The donations from McDonald’s, Delta and Johnson & Johnson are the first time those companies have given to an inauguration in the last decade.
“Inaugurations have long represented a bipartisan commitment to democracy and the peaceful transfer of power,” a spokeswoman for McDonald’s said. Representatives for Lockheed and Johnson & Johnson said they looked forward to working with the incoming administration.
Trade groups representing corporate clients also are making contributions. The Electronic Payments Coalition, which is giving $1 million, has members in the credit card and banking industry such as Wells Fargo, Visa and Mastercard.
That is in addition to dozens of other companies, including Goldman Sachs and General Motors, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported are supporting the fund.
Donating across multiple Trump groups is “one-stop shopping” for high-dollar donors, said Michael Toner, a partner at Wiley Rein and former Federal Election Commission commissioner. He described the requests from Trump allies for eight-figure donations as the latest evolution in a fundraising landscape that grows more frenzied every four years.
In 2017, Trump’s inauguration raised $107 million. President Biden’s inauguration four years ago, during the Covid-19 pandemic, raised more than $61 million. Unused funds can be transferred to other nonprofit organizations, including presidential libraries.
Some Trump allies have sought to capitalize on the interest by asking companies to direct their cash to a Trump-allied super PAC or nonprofit instead. Those groups are expected to pour millions of dollars in the coming year on ads supporting Trump’s preferred political candidates and policies that he’s trying to achieve while in office, many of which could reshape industries during his term.
The president-elect has vowed to impose tariffs that would upend trade agreements and raise costs for many businesses. His pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has been a vociferous critic of the pharmaceutical industry. Trump and his allies have attacked big tech companies and accused them of censorship.
While Trump’s inaugural committee is required to disclose a list of donors after the event is over, his nonprofit isn’t.
Some of the companies donating to Trump’s inauguration also are dispatching their chief executives to the event even though it coincides with a yearly CEO favorite—the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Amazon.com executive chair Jeff Bezos and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla plan to attend the inauguration, among others, according to people familiar with the matter. Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon will be attending the inauguration, and the company is donating to the fund, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Jockeying among attendees is well under way over which events to hit and how to get the best access to VIP members of the new administration. The lineup of official inauguration events include a candlelight dinner at Union Station, receptions with cabinet members and with Vice President-elect JD Vance and his wife, and three balls. The inauguration team is discussing adding another dinner after the inauguration to better accommodate the influx of VIPs, according to two people familiar with planning. Lobbyists and consultants are hosting their own cocktail parties and balls across Washington in the days before the swearing-in.
Tickets to one event, a first-of-its-kind “Inaugural Crypto Ball,” currently start at $5,000 apiece. Snoop Dogg is expected to perform, according to a person familiar with the planning. The Waldorf Astoria that was formerly the Trump International Hotel is the venue for another—a “MAHA Inaugural Ball,” which refers to RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” slogan.
Snoop Dogg is expected to perform at one of the incoming president’s inauguration balls. - caroline brehman/Shutterstock
Donald Trump Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy and other celebrities of MAGA-world are expected to appear at an inauguration-eve ball hosted by activist Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA. And Trump nominee for Secretary of State Marco Rubio is among the hosts of the Official Hispanic Inaugural Ball.
The president-elect’s company is also leaning into the inaugural festivities. The official events schedule kicks off with a reception at the Trump golf course in Virginia. In New York, Trump Tower is selling $450 tickets to an inauguration viewing party with a rib-eye carving station and open bar. (Any attire is welcome, the invite says, but shirts and shoes are required.)
Some lobbyists say they have learned their lesson from eight years ago and are swearing off negotiating for the best seats for their clients this time around.
“The problem is, everybody’s a VIP,” said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser who is co-hosting an event at Washington’s Cafe Milano on the Friday before inauguration. Unless you’re in the motorcade with Trump, “you’re just waiting in the queue with everyone else.”
Urban said there is a “real level of excitement” among CEOs, who were more cautious about appearing to rally behind Trump eight years ago. He said there is a recognition in corporate America that “this is the world order, and if we’re going to succeed, we need to get with the world order.”
Trump appears enthused by the new interest. “Jeff Bezos came. Bill Gates came. Mark Zuckerberg came. Many of them came numerous times. The bankers have all come,” Trump said in Palm Beach, Fla., last week. “Everybody is coming.”
In another sign of how much has changed since 2017, the Trump team said Monday that country star Carrie Underwood will perform at the inauguration. Eight years ago, Trump struggled to attract high-profile singers, recruiting a 16-year-old who finished second place on “America’s Got Talent” to sing at his ceremony.
