US President Donald Trump (R) gestures as he talks with US Ambassador to the UK Woody Johnson (L) preparing to board Marine One to depart the US ambassador’s residence Winfield House in London on July 13, 2018.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Billionaire and Latest York Jets owner Woody Johnson is an element of a really small group inside former President Donald Trump’s inner circle: Wealthy supporters who’re willing to take a position their very own personal capital to persuade Republican megadonors to donate to Trump’s presidential campaign.
Not only is Johnson backing Trump himself, he can be doing something much more vital: Lobbying members of the unofficial Republican billionaire’s club to return back into Trump’s fold, said several of Johnson’s allies who were granted anonymity so as to relay private conversations.
“The sales pitch from team Johnson has been ‘it may be Trump based on the polling. Are you simply not going to get on the train as Trump heads to be the nominee?'” a Republican fundraiser aware of the engagement told CNBC.
Beyond the outreach to fellow donors, Johnson has also signaled that he plans to assist organize and host fundraisers for Trump as the first season ramps up next 12 months, when the pivotal caucus and first elections begin, an individual near the Jets owner explained.
To date, a lot of the most important names in Republican fundraising, like Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman, steel magnate Andy Sabin and real estate titan Stephen Ross, are reluctant to “get on the train” with Trump. Several of them have said each privately and publicly that they were disillusioned with the previous president after his first term ended with the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
But not Johnson. A longtime personal friend of Trump’s and his ambassador to the UK from 2017-21, Johnson has told friends he’s all in on helping his onetime boss win back the White House in 2024, in accordance with people aware of the matter.
To date, they said, none of Trump’s controversies, not the 91 criminal charges he faces in state and federal court, nor his continued false insistence that he won the 2020 election, nor even the riot on Capitol Hill that has resulted in greater than 370 prison sentences thus far, has chipped away at Johnson’s support for Trump.
Quite the opposite, Johnson has remained personally near Trump throughout his post-presidency. Since April, friends of Johnson’s say he has taken part in meetings and attended small, private dinners with the previous president at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club in Florida.
At a CNN town hall in Latest Hampshire in May, the previous president publicly thanked a person he called “Woody” and gestured throwing a football. On the time, it was unclear exactly what Trump was pointing at.
It was Johnson, an individual with direct knowledge later told CNBC, adding that Trump’s team had given the Jets owner and his aides special tickets to the event.
Those near Johnson consider that if Trump were elected president in 2024, the billionaire would accept a job in a second Trump administration, largely resulting from how much he enjoyed his years as an envoy.
A spokesman for Johnson declined to comment. A representative for the Jets and a spokesman for the Trump campaign didn’t return requests for comment.
An heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune with an estimated net value of just over $3 billion, Johnson already donated $1 million to the pro-Trump super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., in April of this 12 months.
This contribution made Johnson certainly one of only seven donors who gave $1 million or more to the PAC in the primary half of this 12 months, in accordance with Federal Election Commission records.
But while only a few of Trump’s richest donors from 2016 and 2020 have donated to his current campaign, it isn’t because they have been shelling out hundreds of thousands to assist his primary opponents, either.
Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer attend the 2017 TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2017 in Latest York City.
Patrick McMullan | Getty Images
As a substitute, key contributors like Rebekah Mercer and Peter Thiel, people whose support would send a vital signal to the remainder of the donor class, seem like sitting on the sidelines and waiting to see how the crowded Republican primary field shakes out before they make big donations.
However the sheer indisputable fact that GOP donors are still waiting to see what happens, when one candidate is dominating the sphere by 50+ points is a testament to how reluctant they’re to back Trump, and the way doggedly they’re holding out hope that one other Republican can win the nomination.
The newest Quinnipiac poll showed the previous president winning 62% of support within the GOP primary, along with his closest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at just 12%.
This gap between how strong Trump is polling versus how relatively weak his support is amongst major donors has added a fresh urgency to Johnson’s calls to onetime contributors and their advisors to attempt to get them back in Trump’s corner, in accordance with those aware of the outreach.
For now, Johnson’s role remains to be largely behind the scenes. Since Trump’s departure from the White House, the 2 men have only had a number of public interactions.
One in all them was at a rally last 12 months for TV host Dr. Mehmet Oz’s failed Senate campaign.
As he took the stage, Trump gave Johnson a shoutout.
“A friend of mine who’s an awesome businessman and an awesome person, Mr. Woody Johnson and his wife Suzanne Johnson,” said Trump.