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Since returning to the White House, President Donald Trump, who is constitutionally prohibited from running for president again, has raised over $400 million through his super PAC, MAGA Inc. Trump has made it clear that he has complete authority over the funds, although such direct control is prohibited by law. “This is money from MAGA Inc. This is my money that I control,” Trump said. “I can spend it for what I want to spend it for.”
The amount raised by Trump’s super PAC is unprecedented. It is a larger war chest than any entity has ever had to spend in a midterm election. Super PACs supporting former President Joe Biden, for example, raised $57 million in the year after his election. (Biden was also eligible to run again in 2024.)
So how is Trump raising so much money?
Over the last 20 months, Trump’s super PAC has repeatedly received large donations from corporations or individuals that are seeking — or have recently received — favorable treatment from the Trump administration.
In MAGA Inc.’s latest September filing, it reported a $1 million donation from Phillip Sarofim that it received on August 21. Sarofim is the founder and CEO of Trousdale Ventures, a venture capital firm. (Sarofim previously donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, according to the New York Times.)
Sarofim’s Trousdale Ventures is a major investor in CesiumAstro, which makes communications systems for satellites. Trousdale Ventures has led multiple rounds of financing for the company. CesiumAstro is listed under Sarofim’s “Notable Deals” on his company bio.
In January, CesiumAstro “announced it secured a historic $200 million financing package from the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM),” which is part of the Trump administration. The package included a “$185 million EXIM-authorized debt facility” and a “$15 million revolving credit facility from J.P. Morgan.” In May, EXIM named CesiumAstro as the “Make More in America (MMIA) Deal of the Year.”
On September 9, shortly after Sarofim’s donation to MAGA Inc., CesiumAstro’s loan from EXIM was formally increased to $280 million, “represent[ing] the Bank’s largest loan approval in the MMIA program to date.”
Correlation, of course, does not equal causation. But it is not an isolated incident. It is a pattern.
Trump administration backs Crypto.com, which has donated $35 million to MAGA Inc., in high-stakes litigation
Earlier this year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) intervened on behalf of Crypto.com in a high-stakes lawsuit over whether Crypto.com and other prediction markets could operate without complying with state gambling laws. This came just 25 days after MAGA Inc. received a $5 million donation from Crypto.com’s parent company. In April, the CFTC filed unprecedented lawsuits against several states to block their efforts to rein in prediction markets. To date, Crypto.com has donated $35 million to MAGA Inc., making the company MAGA Inc.’s single largest donor.
After $5 million MAGA Inc. donation, Trump blocked rule that would have prevented a medical supply company from charging Medicare
In February 2025, Extremity Care, a company that sells extremely expensive “skin substitute” bandages, donated $5 million to MAGA Inc. Six days later, Trump made a post criticizing a pending Biden-era rule that would have blocked Medicare from covering Extremity Care’s products. Then in April 2025, the Trump administration delayed the rule so it would not take effect until January 2026. This allowed Extremity Care to continue charging Medicare up to thousands of dollars per square inch for its products. The rule has since been formally withdrawn.
Trump administration takes action sought by a small Native American tribe that donated $2 million to MAGA Inc.
As Trump retook office, a small Native American tribe, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, gave Trump’s inauguration fund $1 million. For years, the Yocha Dehe had been trying to stop another tribe from building a casino close to its own. Soon after this donation, the Department of the Interior (DOI) sent a letter rescinding a previous determination that the land for th