Dinners with Trump, JD Vance get costlier for donors; minimum price at $50,000

US President-elect Donald Trump and Vice-President-elect JD Vance will be participating in fundraising raising dinners ahead of their inauguration on January 21.

According to a report by The Guardian, there are five tiers of ticket packages — for donating $1 million, $500,000, $250,000, $100,000 or $50,000– for the fundraising dinners.

Major donors have to contribute twice as much to get direct access to him and vice-president-elect JD Vance at private events around the swearing-in ceremony compared with the first inauguration.

At least $1 million to the committee–the highest-tier ticket package — to get access to Trump and JD Vance, a sharp increase from the previous cycle, when the same access cost $500,000. The minimum

In the top-tier package, the donors will get two tickets to a dinner with the vice president-elect and six tickets to the “candlelight dinner” where Trump will be in attendance.

In its report, The Guardian, citing people who were familiar with the matter, said that several people have made major donations at the 1 million level.

The inaugural committee has raised over $170 million and further expects to receive $200 million, The Guardian reported, adding that the committee is overfunded and has paid for the costs to put on the various receptions, lunches, dinners and balls several times.

One transition official suggested, as quoted by The Guardian, that it would be a better return on investment for donors to contribute large sums to Trump-allied political action committees rather than make token $100,000 or even $250,000 contributions to the inaugural committee.

“Prospective donors wouldn’t even be noticed – or appreciated – at that level,” the official was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

FIVE-TIERS OF TICKET PACKAGE TO ATTEND DINNER

There are five tiers of ticket packages, according to the fundraising materials– for donating $1 million, $500,000, $250,000, $100,000 or $50,000.

To get access to the candlelight dinner with Trump and the vice-president’s dinner with Vance, donors would need to have contributed at the $1 million level. A $500,000 contribution would limit access to only the candlelight dinner, unlike in 2017 when it was enough for both.

Promotional materials describe the “candlelight dinner” held at the National Building Museum in Washington as a black-tie event attended by Trump and Melania Trump. The vice president’s dinner is billed as a more intimate black-tie event at the National Gallery of Art.

OVER TWO LAKH TICKETS DISTRIBUTED TO TRUMP’S INAUGURATION

With the 60th Inauguration a week away, officials are starting to distribute more than 220,000 tickets to the public.

The process of sending colour-coded tickets started on January 13, when tickets were sent to members of the US Congress, who were then responsible for distributing tickets among their constituents who applied for them, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) said in a release on Monday.

Tickets are free, but not everyone who applied for a ticket is guaranteed to get one.