Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak at a sold-out campaign fundraiser in Newport Beach Saturday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee continues his fundraising success following his conviction on 34 felony charges.
`My phone’s ringing off the hook” for tickets, said Tony Strickland, the Huntington Beach City Councilman who is chairing the Orange County campaign for Trump.
“It’s sold out,” Strickland told City News Service Friday. “We’re at the point of turning people away unfortunately. It shows the excitement we have for the president coming out to Orange County.”
Strickland said since Trump’s conviction, “Our website crashed because there were so many people donating. And 30% didn’t give before, so it shows a lot of momentum for the president.”
According to reports, tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey is among the hosts for the Newport Beach event, which will be at the home of health insurance company owner John Word and his wife, Kimberly.
Tickets range from $3,300 for a lunch reception to $100,000 to be designated as a member of the roundtable host committee, according to an invitation obtained by City News Service. The chance to take a picture with Trump goes for $35,000 or raising $75,000.
Street closures will start at 7 a. m. and continue to approximately 3 p.m., the Newport Beach Police Department announced. Bayside Drive from Jamboree Road to Pacific Coast Highway will be closed to all motor traffic starting at 7 a.m. and only local residents will be permitted to enter with proof of residency, such as photo identification, passport or some other proof of address.
Residents of the Harbor Island community, Beacon Bay, Promontory Bay, and Promontory Point communities will be able to access their homes during the event via Pacific Coast Highway and Bayside Drive. If visitors are expected, “every effort to accompany them into your community” should be made as they will be denied access and turned away without proof of residency, police said.
The Linda Isle community will not be directly impacted as it is a gated community, but its access will be limited to Pacific Coast Highway and Bayside Drive.
The Bayside Shopping Center and Starbucks shopping center will remain open, but could be impacted during the event, police said
Road closure times and locations are subject to change at any time, according to police.
The fundraiser is Trump’s third in three days in California. He raised $12 million at a fundraiser in San Francisco Thursday, according to Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet K. Dhillon, then conducted a fundraiser in Beverly Hills Friday.
Trump’s motorcade arrived around 6 p.m. at a mansion on Elm Drive near Sunset Boulevard. A group of supporters were gathered outside, many waving Trump flags or American flags and cheering as the motorcade passed by.
“My heart was beating so hard and I was so, so excited to see him drive by,” Beverly Hills resident Michelle Toumari told the Daily News. `I was about to cry knowing that he’s about to be our next president.”
The fundraiser was held at the home of Lee Samson, the owner of a chain of nursing homes, according to the Daily News.
Tickets ranged from $5,000 to attend a reception to $250,000 for the buyer to be designated as an event chair. Other ticket prices were $100,000 to participate in a roundtable, or $40,000 or raising $75,000, for a photo opportunity.
The event was closed to the news media as is customary for a fundraiser for a presidential candidate.
The Trump campaign said it raised $52.8 million through its online digital fundraising platform in the 24 hours following the former president’s conviction in New York City May 30 on charges stemming from a payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
The Trump campaign and Republican National Committee announced Monday the campaign raised $141 million in May, with over 2 million donations at an average of $70.27 per donation. A quarter of May’s donors had not previously donated to the 2024 campaign, according to the campaign.
Organizations supporting Trump raised another $150 million in May, according to the campaign.
“President Trump raised $141 million this month because Americans remember the roaring economy, secure border and peace through strength at home and abroad under Donald J. Trump,” Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement.
The visit is Trump’s first to Southern California since Sept. 29-30, when he spoke at the California Republican Party Fall Convention in Anaheim and a fundraiser in Costa Mesa and visited the Carvel Ice Cream shop in Westwood.
Trump is set to head to Las Vegas following the Newport Beach fundraiser for a rally Sunday.
Trump’s expected November opponent, President Joe Biden, is scheduled to visit the Southland next week, appearing with former President Barack Obama next Saturday at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. George Clooney and Julia Roberts are among those expected to attend, while Jimmy Kimmel is expected to moderate a discussion between Biden and Obama.