Putin under pressure as Europe begins preparing troops for Ukraine peace

Trump's "impatience" in diplomacy could force Putin to abandon his maximalist aims in Ukraine and sign a ceasefire, Lord Peter #Ricketts tells Frontline on #timesradio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQjZKsGwhdo

#ceasefire #us #usa #trump #putin #Zelensky #Starmer #Macron

#Ukraine #UkraineWar #StandWithUkraine

Many GOP billionaires balked at Jan. 6. They’re coming back to Trump.

Trump’s team has used a soft touch with the billionaires and has shown more sophistication than some expected

At the center of some of the discussions has been top Trump aide #Susie #Wiles, who often comes armed with data and is viewed as “impressive and professional,”

Trump is also growing his fundraising team in Palm Beach, where Republican National Committee employees and others are expecting to move to raise money.

At Wiles’s suggestion, Trump has engaged in “#call #time,” dialing billionaires himself. In the past, he had been resistant to such measures.

Trump could desperately use the cash infusion as his campaign and the RNC trail Biden and the Democratic National Committee, and as he faces growing legal bills.

Next month, he is planning a fundraiser hosted by a range of billionaires, including
oil tycoon #Harold #Hamm,
sugar magnate #Jose “Pepe” #Fanjul,
real estate mogul #Howard #Lutnick,
megadonors #Rebekah and #Bob #Mercer,
wealthy business executives #Todd #Ricketts and #Warren #Stephens
and real estate magnate #Steve #Witkoff,

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/29/trump-billionaires-gop-donors/

A network of Republican megadonors has invited aides to both Donald J. Trump and Nikki Haley to make presentations at the group’s winter meeting next week, as the wealthy contributors assess the presidential race with just nine months until Election Day.

The network, known as the ♦️American Opportunity Alliance♦️, is expected to hear from Ms. Haley’s campaign manager, Betsy #Ankney, and Mr. Trump’s top adviser, Susie #Wiles, at the gathering in Palm Beach, Fla., according to two people familiar with the event.

The network was founded a decade ago by a group of wealthy donors, including members of the #Ricketts family, which owns the Chicago Cubs, and the investors Paul #Singer and Kenneth #Griffin.

But the donors in the American Opportunity Alliance do not move in unison, and people supporting Ms. Haley — and who had supported Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, who dropped out of the race last Sunday — are part of the network.
Some members of the group have been open about wanting a candidate other than Mr. Trump.

Many of the donors are closely tied to the vestiges of the pre-Trump Republican Party and tried to stop his rise in 2016.

Trump also has repeatedly attacked major donors as being part of the “swamp” that he derides.
He issued such a threat this week on his social media platform, Truth Social, when he promised to ice out any donors who supported Ms. Haley going forward.

Ms. Haley’s campaign said the reaction to that threat was the opposite of what Trump had intended, saying that she had a huge uptick in fund-raising in the 24 hours that followed.

This weekend, the political network established by the industrialist #Koch brothers, ♦️Americans for Prosperity♦️, is holding its own meeting.

The network supported Ms. Haley, but as The New York Times recently reported, some of its donors regretted that endorsement.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/27/us/politics/republican-megadonors-trump-haley.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare