US President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee raised an unprecedented $239 million for the events surrounding his 2025 swearing-in — shattering past records and drawing scrutiny over the outsize influence of billionaires and corporate giants.
According to a Federal Election Commission filing, the top donor was Colorado-based poultry giant Pilgrim’s Pride, which contributed $5 million. Major cryptocurrency players Ripple Labs and Robinhood followed with donations of $4.9 million and $2 million, respectively.
Several top donors have since been tapped for prominent government posts. Arkansas financier Warren Stephens, who gave $4 million, was nominated as US ambassador to the UK, while billionaire Jared Isaacman — awaiting Senate confirmation to lead NASA — contributed $2 million. Education Secretary Linda McMahon and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also appeared on the donor list with $1 million and $250,000 contributions, respectively.
Among corporate donors, Meta and Amazon each gave $1 million, reportedly securing prime seats at the January 20 ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda for CEOs Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. Chipmaker Nvidia, facing trade restrictions with China, also gave $1 million.
The Trump Vance Inaugural Committee reported taking in $245.3 million and refunding just over $6 million. Roughly 60% of the total came from more than 130 individual million-dollar donations, underscoring the heavy reliance on high-dollar donors to finance the lavish events.
Notably, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, hedge fund manager Paul Singer, and Trump political ally Miriam Adelson were among those contributing $1 million personally.
Steve Kerrigan, who produced inaugural events for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, said Trump’s figures are far beyond what is required. “There’s simply no need for that level of spending unless it’s intended to buy access,” he told CNN.
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The explosion at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on Saturday afternoon killed at least 12 people and injured a further 309, according to Saudi Arabia’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport remains closed until further notice.
One person was killed and nearly a dozen hurt in a new attack Riyadh's international airport on Sunday, Saudi authorities reported, a day after a strike claimed by Yemen's Houthis that killed 13 people and wounded more than 300.
Yemen's Houthis renewed warning to airlines, airport workers, and travellers against using Saudi airports, saying the warning should be taken seriously and that the kingdom “bore responsibility for failed interceptions”, a day after an attack on Riyadh's international airport that killed 12 people.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
Ukraine is ready to stop attacks on Russian oil refineries if Moscow also halts strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday.
The Kremlin on Monday rejected a 60-day ceasefire idea proposed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to allow his country to hold presidential elections, saying it wanted an overall peace deal instead.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 12 October 2026 with the top five natural disasters happening around the world.
The Houthi movement has escalated their attacks on Saudi Arabia, targeting the airport in Riyadh and other cities, killing more than a dozen people.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukraine is ready to respect the energy ceasefire announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, but only if Russia does the same, saying Moscow has already violated the agreement.
China has announced sanctions against Belize’s foreign minister and Paraguay’s communications minister over their countries’ diplomatic ties with Taiwan. The move comes as Beijing continues to pressure the few remaining nations that maintain formal diplomatic relations with Taipei.
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