{"id":1056570,"date":"2025-10-17T14:05:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/?p=1056570"},"modified":"2025-10-17T14:05:30","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T18:05:30","slug":"trump-keeps-the-government-shut-down-to-skip-town-and-throw-a-1-million-per-plate-mar-a-lago-candlelight-dinner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-keeps-the-government-shut-down-to-skip-town-and-throw-a-1-million-per-plate-mar-a-lago-candlelight-dinner\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Keeps the Government Shut Down to Skip Town and Throw a $1 Million-Per-Plate Mar-a-Lago Candlelight Dinner\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" height=\"449\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?w=1024\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1050776\" srcset=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png 1101w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=300,132 300w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=768,337 768w, https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png?resize=1024,449 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tonight, while Donald Trump\u2019s government shutdown marks its 17th day, Trump\u2019s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3846299\/trump-1-million-dollar-mar-a-lago-candlelight-dinner\/\">hosting<\/a> a $1 million per plate \u201ccandlelight dinner\u201d fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. New <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/0ab138a5-76de-4371-8f20-3ca31f27e170\">reporting<\/a> reveals that at least 30 individuals or companies that have collectively donated more than $116 million to Trump and his causes have received favors from the White House \u2014 and tonight, top donors will pay top dollar for more access. Instead of being in D.C. to reopen the government, Trump is dining with billionaires as a massive health care crisis looms that will double health care <a href=\"https:\/\/democrats.us2.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=90379082c3d9e6a03baf3f677&amp;id=8d8455afff&amp;e=02c44c018e\">premiums<\/a> for 22 million Americans. The message couldn\u2019t be clearer: Trump is putting himself and his wealthy donors first and the American people last.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>In response, DNC Rapid Response Director Kendall Witmer issued the following statement:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAt this point, the Trump administration\u2019s corruption is on full display. Donald Trump is hosting million-dollar dinners in gold-plated ballrooms while the government remains shut down and a health care crisis looms. It\u2019s no wonder most Americans blame Trump and Republicans for this government shutdown: They are skipping town and throwing million-dollar fundraisers to fill their campaign coffers. Trump\u2019s brazen carelessness and corruption are an offense to the millions of working families who are already bearing the brunt of rising costs and disappearing jobs, and are now bracing themselves for skyrocketing health care premiums if Republicans get their way.\u201d<br><br>Trump and his family have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newyorker.com\/magazine\/2025\/08\/18\/the-number\">profited<\/a> billions of dollars since he first entered the White House. While Trump and his inner circle rake in the cash, the government remains shut down, and working families are paying the price for his disastrous agenda. Trump\u2019s billionaire-first budget bill made the largest cuts to health care and SNAP in history, and now Americans are bracing for skyrocketing health care premiums if Republicans refuse to extend the ACA tax credits. Trump\u2019s budget slashed health care and food assistance for working families to give massive tax handouts to the ultrarich \u2014 which cost more than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbo.gov\/publication\/61734\">10 times<\/a> as much as it would to extend the ACA tax credits. While Trump uses the government as his personal ATM machine to enrich himself and his wealthy donors, working families are getting thrown under the bus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight, while Donald Trump\u2019s government shutdown marks its 17th day, Trump\u2019s super PAC, Make America Great Again Inc., is hosting a $1 million per plate \u201ccandlelight dinner\u201d fundraiser at his Mar-a-Lago mansion. New reporting reveals that at least 30 individuals or companies that have collectively donated more than $116 million to Trump and his causes [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":302,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1056570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Trump Keeps the Government Shut Down to Skip Town and Throw a $1 Million-Per-Plate Mar-a-Lago Candlelight Dinner\u00a0 - Democrats<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-keeps-the-government-shut-down-to-skip-town-and-throw-a-1-million-per-plate-mar-a-lago-candlelight-dinner\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democrats\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T18:05:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-17T18:05:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Black-Logo-White-Fill-For-Email.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1101\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tristin Byrd\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tristin Byrd\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-keeps-the-government-shut-down-to-skip-town-and-throw-a-1-million-per-plate-mar-a-lago-candlelight-dinner\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/democrats.org\/news\/trump-keeps-the-government-shut-down-to-skip-town-and-throw-a-1-million-per-plate-mar-a-lago-candlelight-dinner\/\",\"name\":\"Trump Keeps the Government Shut Down to Skip Town and Throw a $1 Million-Per-Plate Mar-a-Lago Candlelight Dinner\u00a0 - 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