Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, one of the top contenders to become Donald J. Trump’s running mate, will host a gathering in Washington next month featuring Republican donors who so far remain publicly uncommitted to the party’s presidential ticket.
Pitched as a meeting of Great Opportunity Policy, a tax-exempt group that supports Mr. Scott’s political agenda, the private event on June 19 will double as a fund-raiser just as Mr. Trump’s vice-presidential search is expected to start heating up.
A financial show of force for Mr. Scott’s group could lift his chances of being selected by Mr. Trump, who has spoken to advisers at Mar-a-Lago about which potential running mates could help the campaign raise money. For Mr. Scott, the event may help signal that he is a more palatable political figure for centrist donors and that adding him to the ticket could expand the network of financial resources Mr. Trump could tap into this year.
According to a copy of the invitation obtained by The New York Times, Mr. Scott’s event will feature remarks from a range of major donors and other well-known figures:
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Marc Andreessen, the software engineer turned investor who has given more than $11 million to non-Trump political causes this cycle
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Kenneth Griffin, the founder of the hedge fund Citadel, who has made nearly $60 million in political contributions this cycle, much of which helped finance Mr. Trump’s Republican primary challengers
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Marc Rowan, the chief executive of Apollo Global Management, who supported Mr. Scott’s presidential bid
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Bill Ackman, the founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, who has said he is deciding whether to support Mr. Trump or Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent presidential candidate
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Tim Dunn, a founder of CrownQuest, who has already supported Mr. Trump with a $5 million contribution to Make America Great Again Inc., the former president’s super PAC
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Kellyanne Conway, a former senior counselor in the Trump White House
Mr. Trump has become increasingly worried about a range of money problems. On the campaign trail, his advisers expect to be outgunned by President Biden’s fund-raising operation. In the courtroom, his four criminal cases have led to sky-high legal bills, sapping roughly $50 million from his Save America political action committee last year.
The former president has responded by leaning into his own fund-raising efforts — a major shift from his first campaign, in 2016, when he appealed to voters by portraying political donors as a malignant force undermining the interests of working-class Americans.
At a private fund-raiser on Saturday at his Mar-a-Lago club in South Florida, Mr. Trump told donors that they would not receive a picture with him if “you didn’t pay enough,” and added that he occasionally told his aides they scheduled too many photos before an event.
