Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has had trouble courting donors for a while now, but Beverly Hills-based developer and prominent water waster Geoff Palmer is fully on board. In fact, Palmer is Trump’s biggest individual donor, Bloomberg reports.
Federal Election Commission data shows Palmer gave $2 million to a Super PAC supporting Trump known as Rebuilding America Now. The PAC was started by fellow Los Angeles developer Tom Barrack, though Barrack himself has yet to invest any of his own money into it, leaving Palmer’s donation as the bulk of the $2.16 million in the PAC's coffers.
The money seems to be going to good use; in only the last 24 hours the PAC has uploaded four new campaign ads to its Youtube account, including this doozy:
Bloomberg reports that prior to the 2012 election, Palmer donated to a PAC supporting Mitt Romney. But it also says this is by far the largest political contribution he has made. And that makes sense. Palmer is probably LA’s most Trump-like developer. Both men are known for building ostentatious luxury projects that draw the ire of affordable housing advocates and historical preservationists alike.
Palmer has not responded to a request for comment.
Curbed LA has been less than complimentary toward Palmer and his developments. In April, we interviewed him via e-mail, and he defended his projects, saying he's taken "enormous personal risks" to revitalize neighborhoods with his "creations."
"We now have over 4,000 units built and occupied downtown and we will be building 2,000 more units shortly. No one has done more to revitalize these areas of downtown," he wrote. "To complain about classic Renaissance architecture that has endured and has been appreciated for centuries is very narrow-minded."
Well, there you have it.
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