'Money is just pouring in': Trump reportedly berating CEOs to fork over millions in cash

15 January

Even though the Constitution prevents him from running for a third term, President-elect Donald Trump is currently sitting on hundreds of millions of dollars in cash – and the money is continuing to roll in.

Axios reported Wednesday that the president-elect is meticulously keeping track of who has donated to his inaugural fund and who hasn't, and that those who haven't yet donated are reportedly on a "grievance list." Trump has even been tracking how well companies have fared according to their balance sheets and stock prices, and is apparently using that information to shake down CEOs.

"You guys made this amount of money last year and you're gonna make so much more now because of me," Trump said according to an unnamed confidant.

"But when I needed you, where the f— were you? You weren't with me and maybe you were with her," he reportedly added, referring to Vice President Kamala Harris.

This account was corroborated by another company's consultant, who told Axios that he saw Trump with a "client and soon-to-be-donor" and that the president-elect was "raking them over the coals" for not giving him money, saying: "Where were you the last four years?"

One of Axios' sources emphasized that this was not a pay-for-play scheme, insisting that while these CEOs were giving money to support Trump's agenda, the president-elect was not taking their money to support their agenda. This tracks with previous reporting by the New York Times, which found that despite companies like Meta, Amazon and Google giving $1 million apiece to Trump's inauguration, many top donors won't actually be getting anything for their money.

"On account of the shortage of seating at V.I.P. events, some donors have taken the unusual step of offering donations as high as $1 million without receiving anything in return," the Times reported last week.

"A lot of these guys are going down [to Mar-a-Lago] taking victory laps because he's taking their money and they're in for a rude awakening," an unnamed corporate consultant told Axios. "Sure, he'll throw an inaugural party with their money but he owes them nothing."

"The money is just pouring in at Mar-a-Lago. Trump doesn't have to lift a finger," a Trump advisor anonymously told the outlet. "Everyone's coming to him."

"He'll take your money and then tell you, 'I don't give a f— what you want.' He did that during the campaign," they added. "He's going to do what he wants, what the base wants."

Click here to read Axios' report in its entirety.

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