Byron Donalds will hold fundraiser at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club

U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds already has President Donald Trump’s endorsement for Governor. Now, the Naples Republican will host a fundraiser in Trump’s famed Florida home.

And he is already pulling in some prominent support that once backed a potential opponent.

Donalds’ gubernatorial campaign released an e-vite to an event at Mar-a-Lago, first reported by E.W. Scripps reporter Forrest Saunders. The May 1 event will include a poolside reception and dinner in the Palm Beach club. Tickets to the reception will be $3,000 a person, while the dinner will cost $50,000 a plate.

That shows ambitions to raise a substantial sum for Donalds’ campaign and for the newly launched Friends of Byron Donalds committee.

That committee has already reported more than $2.4 million in fundraising, including $1.2 million transferred from Donalds’ congressional campaign.

He also reported a $1 million contribution from U-Line CEO Richard Uihlein. That’s especially notable as Uihlein supported Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign against Trump for the presidential nomination in 2023. The support to Donalds lands amid speculation that First Lady Casey DeSantis may run for Governor herself next year.

Donalds hopes to see more big donors jump into his camp early, and the chance to dine at Mar-a-Lago could help signal loyalty both to Donalds and to Trump at the venue increasingly seen as the center of Republican politics.

Trump preemptively endorsed Donalds in February, reportedly just before Ron DeSantis could lobby for the President’s support at a gathering with Republican Governors.

“I am hearing that Highly Respected Congressman Byron Donalds is considering running for Governor of Florida, a State that I love, and WON BIG in 2016, 2020, and 2024,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

Donalds announced his campaign shortly afterward.

“I think now is the time to now take the mantle and lead our state into the future,” he said in an announcement.

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