Donald Trump brought the Hamptons to a standstill on Friday as hedge fund managers unlocked their vaults of cash, warming to the GOP presidential nominee after cold-shouldering him the past few years.
“Whatever trepidations the Hamptons finance set had about Trump are melting like frozé in the sun,” communications strategist James McCarthy said in a text message to The Daily Beast as he sat poolside at his home, less than a mile from a Trump fundraiser.
The event, co-hosted by Howard Lutnick of the investment banking behemoth Cantor Fitzgerald, aimed to raise $10 million for the GOP presidential nominee, according to Bloomberg. The former president, with his Secret Service detail in tow, forced road closures and snarled traffic in the wealthy seaside resort. Lutnick was co-hosting the fundraiser with, among others, Farvahar Partners CEO Omeed Malik and John Paulson, a Trump mega donor and billionaire hedge fund operator.
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Malik is known for the eight-figure settlement he extracted from Bank of America after he was fired for alleged sexual harassment.
The lowest entry point to attend Friday’s fundraiser for Trump was $25,000 per person. To become a host of the event, $500,000 was expected per couple.
Other cohosts of Friday’s fundraiser included apartment mogul Richard Kurtz, Woody Johnson, co-owner of the New York Jets who served as Trump’s ambassador to the U.K., and Lee Zeldin, the former New York congressman, who voted to overturn the 2020 election results and was defeated by Kathy Hochul to become governor. Another, Duke Buchan, a former hedge fund manager, is a dogged fundraiser for Trump who served as his ambassador to Spain and became finance chairman for the Republican National Committee in 2022.
A flyer for a Donald Trump fundraiser.
SuppliedWhy the rekindled love for Trump? “All my Wall Street clients are either bundling donations now or talking up their networks for roles in the administration,” said McCarthy, whose clients include Fortune 500 and big-cap companies and leaders, including Ken Langone.
The fundraiser for Trump was much needed, but he has a long way to go to catch up to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris’ historic fundraising haul.
Ultra-wealthy Republicans who had cooled on Trump after his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection and subsequent felony conviction and other court cases, are coming around again in the wake of the attempt on his life. McCarthy said Trump’s “defiant reaction to the assassination attempt is the turning point I’m hearing most often” among the moneyed donor set.
“If they were ambivalent six weeks ago, now they’re jockeying for entrée at the Bridgehampton fundraiser tonight,” he told The Daily Beast.
Supporters could be seen on video cheering the former president's motorcade along Route 27 near Francis S. Gabreski Airport, waving American flags, Trump flags and at least one Israeli flag.
McCarthy, who own CounterPoint Strategies and summers in the Hamptons, said he has noticed “lots of pro-Trump signage” south of the highway—no longer just in the year-round working class communities. “Now it’s all over the place among the high hedges and boutiques south of the highway,” he said.
