According to the Washington Post, former President Donald Trump made striking comments about potential military action at a fundraising event.
The WP reports that Trump “suggested that he would have bombed Moscow and Beijing if Russia invaded Ukraine or China invaded Taiwan, surprising some of the donors.”
The article states that Trump’s comments at fundraising events often involve foreign policy and topics he discusses at rallies, such as inflation and immigration.
During the fundraising efforts, he also requested a series of multi-million dollar donations from wealthy individuals and industry groups.
The report cites 11 anonymous donors, advisers, and others close to Trump who described his fundraising tactics.
For instance, Trump is said to have told a group of donors at the Pierre Hotel in New York: “When Donald Trump met some of the country’s top donors at a luxurious New York hotel earlier this month, he told the group that a businessman had recently offered $1 million to his presidential effort and wanted to have lunch. ‘I’m not having lunch,’ Trump said he responded, according to donors who attended. ‘You’ve got to make it $25 million.'”
According to the WP, Trump has frequently tied his fundraising requests to promises of favorable policies, such as tax cuts and infrastructure approvals.
The report states, “By frequently tying the fundraising requests within seconds of promises of tax cuts, oil project infrastructure approvals and other favorable policies and asking for sums more than his campaign and the GOP can legally accept from an individual, Trump is also testing the boundaries of federal campaign finance laws, according to legal experts.”
The Post also notes that Trump has asked for donations well beyond the legal limits for individual contributions. For example, “In one recent meeting staged by his super PAC, Trump asked oil industry executives to raise $1 billion for his campaign and said raising such a sum would be a ‘deal’ given how much money they would save if he were reelected as president.”
Read also: