Former President Donald Trump ordered one of his aides to send aggressive text messages to one of his campaign’s largest donors, accusing her of employing Republicans who do not support him, The New York Times reported.
The texts were sent by Trump aide Natalie Harpe to Miriam Adelson, the widow of casino mogul Sheldon Adelson. They complained that Adelson’s super PAC, Preserve America, was being run by “RINOs” ("Republicans In Name Only") and that her late husband would not have allowed such people to be involved in the campaign.
The messages came just a week after Trump and Adelson had a “friendly meeting” at the Republican National Convention in July, according to the Times.
As tensions have run high in the Trump campaign since Harris replaced President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee, some of Trump’s aides fear his anger has left him vulnerable to manipulation, The Time reported.
The texts to Miriam Adelson were reportedly prompted by another major Trump donor, Ike Perlmutter, in the hopes that Adelson would instead contribute to a rival super PAC that he supports.
Preserve America is expected to spend as much as $100 million in pro-Trump ads in the lead up to the election, Politico reported in May.
Preserve America was spending nearly $18 million a week on pro-Trump ads in battleground states last month, the Times reported. One of those ads falsely claimed that Democratic nominee Kamala Harris was overwhelming American hospitals with “illegal immigrants.”
But the text messages have sparked concern among Trump’s aides that Preserve America may scale back their funding for the former president’s campaign.
Miriam Adelson, who is a dual Israeli-American citizen, took over her husband’s business ventures after he passed away in 2021 and has been a major donor to Trump, as well as pro-Israel causes. In 2018, Trump awarded with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
