The Casino Moguls Cashing In on Trump’s Campaign
We’ve all heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” But with the upcoming election looming large and still no clear winner in sight (even less so after the woeful first Presidential debate), it begs the question: how much cash does it take to win a Presidency?
It’s no secret that before he was the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump was heavily involved in the US casino scene. Snapping up multiple properties throughout the 1980s, Trump had his name in lights no less than three times on the Atlantic City boardwalk.
Though he managed to bankrupt each of his New Jersey properties, his legacy lives on as one of America’s gambling linchpins. As such, it’s hardly surprising that many of the casino kings he once rubbed shoulders with are opening up their wallets and funding his campaign.
Desperate to close the gap between Biden’s campaign cash flow and his own, Trump has been ingratiating himself with the Vegas elite. From the original legends of the Strip to their families, partners, and stakeholders, here are the casino moguls cashing in on Trump’s third Presidential bid.
Steve Wynn
Donald Trump and Steve Wynn engaged in a tumultuous legal battle over Atlantic City’s gambling landscape that lasted throughout the 1990s. But after years of lawsuits, employee poaching, and public slander, their relationship eventually transformed from rivalry to respect.
Mirroring the age-old ‘enemies-to-lovers’ trope, Donald Trump and Steve Wynn somehow transformed their mutual hatred into a politically charged friendship. After all, the pair share many similarities: both are casino moguls, share the republican ideology, have faced numerous sexual assault allegations – the list goes on.
The outcome of Steve Wynn’s allegations? A $10 million fine, loss of ownership of his casino empire, and exclusion from participating in any casino-related role other than a customer.
Back In The Game
However, it seems Wynn isn’t sitting around licking his wounds. Instead, the former finance chair of the Republican National Committee has rekindled his political associations.
In April 2024, Wynn pledged over $800,000 to a Trump 47 campaign fundraiser, which he helped organize and co-hosted. He also received a shoutout from Trump after an uncontested victory in New Hampshire in January. In June 2024, Wynn was finally victorious in his years-long foreign lobbying case against the Department of Justice.
While his historical feud with Trump played out on the New Jersey shore, Steve Wynn was one of the most influential figures on the Vegas Strip. During his 50-year career, Wynn became the majority shareholder of the Golden Nugget Casino (the youngest casino owner in Vegas), opened a string of legendary properties (including the Mirage, the Bellagio, and Treasure Island), launched his eponymous Wynn Resorts Hotel & Casino chain, started the online gambling site, Wynnbet and expanded into Macau.
Image credit – Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock
Dr. Miriam Adelson
Wynn isn’t the only mogul backing the Trump administration. Dr. Miriam Adelson, wife of the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, has been a staunch supporter of Trump since the beginning. After flying under the political radar for a couple of years, Aldelson has returned to back her favorite wispy-haired Republican.
In 2016, the Adelsons donated over $25 million to Trump’s campaign and inauguration ceremony. Two years later, the pair pledged over $110 million to various Republican causes, earning Miriam the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. The Adelsons also spent around $90 million aiding Trump’s failed 2020 re-election efforts.
Far from Wynn’s disgraced expulsion from the Vegas strip, Miriam Adelson has found herself the proprietor of one of its biggest casinos. After her husband passed away in 2021, Adelson inherited the majority share of his casino empire, Las Vegas Sands, and became the fifth-richest woman in America. Ironically, the newly-appointed kingpin (or should that be queenpin?) of gambling is a doctor who specializes in the biology of addiction.
The Queenpin of Vegas
Since assuming her new role as majority shareholder, Dr. Adelson has set her sights on more than just casinos. In November 2023, Adelson shed $2 billion of company stock (around 10% of her share) to purchase majority ownership of the Dallas Mavericks.
Six months later, she blew the dust off her political checkbook and reprised her role as Trump’s most extravagant supporter. Though she refrained from investing during the early stages of the 2024 election, Dr. Adelson donated over $400,000 to the Trump 47 Joint Fundraising Committee in May.
Almost immediately after the June presidential debate between Trump and Biden—during which Trump aligned himself with her pro-Israel sentiments—Adelson pledged a mind-blowing $100 million to Trump’s campaign via the reconstituted Preserve America super PAC. According to Dave Carney, leader of said super PAC, the money will be spent on media campaigns to win over a handful of undetermined states.
John Paulson
Though not directly a casino owner himself, John Paulson enmeshed himself in the casino world with his various supersized stakes. Through his hedge fund, Paulson & Co., John Paulson bought stakes in companies such as MGM Resorts, where he became the second-largest shareholder of the MGM Mirage after a $410 million stock purchase in 2010.
He’s also held positions with Caesar’s (buying 12.3 million shares in 2012), Boyd Gaming (where he swapped $40 million for 4.6% ownership), and Bally’s (which he added to his portfolio in 2021 with a $54.11 million stake). Though he has since relinquished these stakes, it’s clear he’s always had a keen eye for casino investments.
Potential Cabinet Pick
Paulson has been publicly linked to Donald Trump since 2016 when he was a valued donor and financial adviser to the Trump campaign. Now, it seems he’s back in the political limelight and hoping to offer up more than just his wallet. In March 2024, Trump discussed the possibility of recruiting Paulson as his Treasury secretary if he wins the election.
Paulson is already going to great lengths to prove his devotion to Trump. In April 2024, the hedge fund manager opened up his Palm Beach mansion to host a fundraiser in Trump’s honor, aiming to rectify the financial disparity between Biden’s campaign fund and his own. The event, which had around 100 attendees and cost between $250,000 to $824,600 per ticket, reportedly raised over $50 million for the Trump campaign.
Image credit – Ken Wolter/Shutterstock
Tilman Fertitta
Tilman Fertitta is the owner and CEO of Landry’s Inc., which operates over 600 casinos, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues across the US. Landry’s is a subsidiary of his entertainment conglomerate, Fertitta Entertainment Inc.
Perhaps the most famous of all Landry’s brands is the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, which Fertitta acquired from the Poster Financial Group in 2005 and which was cemented as one of the Strip’s most iconic casinos in 1977 by former owner Steve Wynn. Since acquiring the initial two Golden Nugget casinos, Fertitta has opened half a dozen Nugget resorts across the US.
The NBA’s Houston Rockets are another prominent business venture for the Texan tycoon, which he acquired through Fertitta Entertainment Inc. in 2017 and doubled in valuation in the next seven years. However, they’ve caused him considerably more hassle in the last few years than his successful casino resorts.
Houston We Have A Problem
In 2020, star players James Harden and Russell Westbrook requested to be traded from the Rockets, largely due to Fertitta’s strong support of Trump and the Republican party. After Trump’s numerous attacks on the “low IQs of African-Americans” and on NBA star LeBron James specifically, it’s not hard to see why.
Despite dissatisfaction among the team about his political views (and possibly because both players have already left the Rockets), Tilman Fertitta is in no rush to diminish his support for the Trump 47 campaign. Instead, he’s pulling out all the stops to ensure ol’ Don gets the funding he needs.
In May 2024, Fertitta hosted a private fundraiser inside his five-star Post Oak Hotel in Uptown Houston. Tickets cost between $100,000 to $844,600 per couple, with a photo op thrown in for a mere $25,000. Fertitta’s co-hosts included oil tycoon George Bishop, Hilcorp Energy CEO Jeff Hildebrand, and Al A. Gonsoulin, chairman and chief executive of the energy aviation company PHI Inc.
Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta
Brothers Frank III and Lorenzo Fertitta are also big-time backers of the Trump campaign and long-standing Republican donors. Third cousins of Tilman Fertitta, Frank III and Lorenzo inherited their father’s successful Station Casinos chain in 1993, which consists of 17 properties throughout Nevada.
However, the brothers made the bulk of their billions through the MMA promotion company UFC, which they bought for $2 million in 2001 and sold for $5 billion in 2017.
The Fertitta brothers have long been embroiled in a legal battle with the Culinary Union, a 60,000-strong organization representing Vegas’ tourism industry workers and the largest union in Nevada. Though Culinary has successfully unionized most Vegas casinos, Station and Red Rock Resorts (Fertitta’s publicly traded arm) are proving a difficult stone to turn.
In September 2021, the brothers were subpoenaed for attempting to undercut labor organizing efforts, and in March 2022, they faced a mass action lawsuit for violating Nevada’s “Right to Return” Act.
America First Action
So, how are the Fertitta’s linked to Donald Trump? Since 2016, the pair have donated over $5 million towards Trump’s campaigns, including over $200,000 to his Inaugural Committee and $2 million to the controversial America First Action super PAC. In 2022, the brothers donated over $1.5 million to various Republican PACs.
Though it remains to be seen how much the Fertitta’s will pledge during the 2024 campaign, their involvement is pretty much guaranteed. The brothers met with Trump in January 2024, where they allegedly committed to supporting his latest Presidential endeavors.
Image credit – Tupungato/Shutterstock
Phil Ruffin
Last on our list but the first out of the gates, Phil Ruffin was the first casino mogul to donate to Trump’s 2024 campaign. Donating $1 million to the MAGA Inc. super PAC and more than $800,000 to the Trump 47 Committee, Ruffin was a real leader of the PAC (pun intended).
Co-owner of the Trump International Hotel and long-term sidekick of Trump himself, Ruffin made his money through casino acquisitions. He bought the New Frontier Hotel & Casino in 1998 for just shy of $200 million and sold it to Israeli developers a decade later for $1.2 billion.
Leader of the PAC
In 2009, he bought the Treasure Island Hotel & Casino for $775 million (one of the many Strip casinos founded by Steve Wynn) and acquired the Circus Circus Casino for $825 million in 2019. Despite the former churning out enough money to fund Ruffin’s retirement for the next few centuries ($400 million annually, if you’re interested), the 89-year-old casino magnate refuses to bow out of the gambling game.
Sure, the pair don’t always see eye to eye – for example, Donald believed you could kill the coronavirus with bleach, while Phil was adamant that sunlight and desert heat would do the trick. However, Ruffin’s latest donations prove he’s just as invested in Trump’s 2024 campaign as he was in the last two.
If you’re interested in learning more about the 45th president, his casino mogul supporters, and their many many ties to the casino world and Vegas, check out these articles:
Title image credit – Iv Olga/Shutterstock
