Members of a New York billionaire family contributed $36,000 to one of former President Donald Trump's greatest rivals, despite once being Trump megadonors.
Campaign finance data shows that John Catsimatidis and his wife each donated $18,000 to New York Attorney General Letitia James on December 21, 2023. Their son John Jr. confirmed to Newsweek that his parents made the contributions.
Catsimatidis, the CEO of New York-based grocery chain Gristedes, and his wife are well-known Trump supporters. The couple contributed $515,000 to the former president's 2020 campaign. Their daughter Andrea is the chairwoman of the Manhattan Republican Party, where both Margo and their son John Jr. serve as vice presidents.
Last year, Margo and John Jr. donated a combined $33,100 to Trump's 2024 campaign and his Save America PAC, Federal Election Commission filings show. Andrea, who has 65K followers on Instagram, has made several social media posts supporting Trump's 2024 campaign.
The senior Catsimatidis also signaled in April 2023 that he planned to back Trump's bid over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was at the time the most viable GOP threat to the former president.
He told the Washington Examiner, "If you're putting it in the same context of Donald Trump vs. Ron DeSantis, I would pick Donald Trump in a second." Catsimatidis made one donation of $3,300 to Trump's 2024 campaign in May of last year.
The Gristedes CEO previously ran for mayor of New York City as a Democrat in 2009 and as a Republican in 2013. In 2021, he said he considered running for the office again, originally suggesting that he'd run as a Democrat before later retracting those comments and saying he'd run as a Republican.
It's unclear why the couple donated to James' campaign, but the attorney general has raked in $400,000 in campaign contributions between October and January. James has also received sizable donations from Apple designer Jony Ive and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman, who each donated $18,000 to her campaign.
Although the couple are notable GOP donors, having contributed more than $60,000 to the Republican National Committee, they have also donated to Democratic campaigns, including Representative Jerry Nadler, former Representative Carolyn Maloney, and former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
Catsimatidis has also been described as a "high-level Clinton donor" who served as a member of Hillary Clinton's finance team during her 2008 presidential campaign. He's hosted fundraising events with President Bill Clinton that have brought in hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hillary Clinton's campaign. Hillary Clinton also attended his daughter's wedding to Chris Cox, the only grandson of former President Richard Nixon.
In recent years, however, Catsimatidis been a vocal Trump supporter. Just last week, he was listed as a co-chair of the mega Trump fundraiser in Palm Beach that raised over $50 million for the former president's campaign. He was not able to attend the event, citing other commitments. Casino mogul Steve Wynn and Las Vegas-based businessman Robert Bigelow were also listed as co-chairs of the fundraiser.
The fundraiser nearly doubled the event that helped President Joe Biden haul in $26 million last month in New York City with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Prior to the event, Biden's campaign boasted $192 million in cash on hand, which the president's campaign said was a record for any Democratic candidate in history at this point in the election cycle.
Update 4/11/24 11:52 a.m. ET This story was updated with comments from John Jr.
Correction 4/11/24 11:52 a.m. ET An earlier version of this story said John Jr. donated to James' campaign.
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