A Low-Profile Trump Travels to Virginia to Meet With Donors

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/27/us/politics/trump-giuseppe-cecchi-donors.html

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WASHINGTON — President Trump kept a relatively low profile and did not make any public appearances on Tuesday, but emerged for a rare evening trip outside the White House to meet with deep-pocketed donors at a real estate developer’s home in Virginia.

Mr. Trump, who usually prefers a steak served at his own hotel if he leaves the confines of the White House at night, traveled to the McLean, Va., home of Giuseppe Cecchi, according to a person with knowledge of the president’s plans. Mr. Cecchi is a loyalist who previously hosted Mr. Trump for a $10,000-a-couple fund-raising dinner in the final weeks of the 2016 presidential campaign.

Since arriving back in Washington on Sunday from his Florida estate, Mr. Trump’s schedule showed no public appearances and he kept his usual tweeting to a minimum.

He has opted instead to leave it to his aides to field questions about a continuing investigation into his campaign’s contact with Russia, allegations by a pornographic actress that his lawyer paid her to stay silent about an affair, a move to expel 60 Russian diplomats and his administration’s support for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census.

The White House declined to offer additional information about the dinner, but stressed that it was not a fund-raiser.

“Tonight, the president will be having dinner with a group of supporters at a private residence in Virginia,” said Lindsay Walters, a deputy White House press secretary. “This dinner is not a fund-raiser. No funds have been solicited.”

It was the second time this month that Mr. Trump traveled to a private home to meet with donors. Financial executives, an oil billionaire and the president’s oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., also attended the dinner at the home of a prominent lawyer.

Even if no funds are raised at Tuesday’s dinner, it is part of a series of events intended to cultivate donors for two groups created to back Mr. Trump — America First Policies, a nonprofit formed to support his agenda, and America First Action, a “super PAC” that is supporting the campaigns of his allies and eventually his re-election campaign.

The groups, which are seeking to raise $100 million this year, have hosted a series of events featuring Mr. Trump and top administration officials, including Vice President Mike Pence.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr. Pence headlined an “America First” rally in Fargo, N.D.

“They’re trying to rally people around the tax cuts, and show how they have impacted local communities,” said Dan K. Eberhart, an Arizona oil investor and Republican donor who is an adviser to America First Policies and who attended the Fargo event.

Headed into the 2018 midterm elections, Republicans are mostly facing a treacherous landscape in which they fear that Mr. Trump could be a liability in suburban districts.

America First intends to help balance the playing field, partly by dispatching administration officials into areas that Mr. Trump won handily in 2016, and partly by raising money from wealthy supporters to fund ads bolstering Republicans.

The involvement of Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence is considered a key to the fund-raising efforts of the groups.

America First Policies and America First Action are overseen by the veteran Republican operative Brian O. Walsh.

“America First Action is extremely honored to host President Trump as our special guest, along with supporters and friends of our organization,” he said in a statement. “We ensure that our activities at all times remain in full compliance with the law and ethics rules.”

America First Action has been a popular source of income for Trump loyalists, including Corey Lewandowski, and the president’s newly named re-election campaign manager, Brad Parscale. The group’s goal with the dinners is to connect supporters of Mr. Trump with policy leaders, and to give face time to the people who had shown the president the most support, a person with knowledge of the process said.

In 2016, Mr. Cecchi and his wife, Mercedes, also hosted donors at his home. Mr. Cecchi who at one point was known as the “condo king” of Washington, is known for developing the Watergate complex.

For that event, attendees had to pay $10,000 to $100,000 for a photo opportunity with Mr. Trump and the chance to mingle with Reince Priebus, then the chairman of the Republican National Committee, and Steven T. Mnuchin, the finance chairman at the time for the Trump campaign.

Mr. Cecchi could not be reached for comment. When reached by telephone, Mr. Cecchi’s son John did not offer further details of the event.

“Whatever he’s doing,” John Cecchi, who was on the host committee of the 2016 event, said of his father, “I’m sure he’s psyched about it.”