Trump appears at attorney Dan Newlin’s Orlando-area fundraiser

WINDERMERE, Fla. — Donald Trump drew a crowd of supporters outside a campaign fundraiser held by prominent Orlando attorney Dan Newlin at his home near Windermere on Wednesday night.

A campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about how much money was raised.

Trump arrived at Orlando International Airport just before 5 p.m., according to Jack Sweeney’s Trump Jets social media accounts, coming from another fundraiser in Atlanta that had been expected to take in about $5 million.

At the exclusive Keene’s Pointe gated community, Orange County deputy sheriffs were stationed outside the entrance, where only residents were allowed in.

Along State Road 535, Trump flags flew from a few cars parked along the road, which garnered some honks in support. On X, a video showed Trump getting out of his car in the neighborhood and waving at those who had gathered on the street nearby.

It was Trump’s first visit to Central Florida since he spoke at the state Republican Party’s Freedom Summit in Kissimmee in November.

Republican State Rep. Carolina Amesty, who represents the area, lined the road with signs, including a van emblazoned with her photo parked across the street from the neighborhood entrance. She is scheduled to hold a fundraiser with Donald Trump Jr. on Thursday.

Newlin’s neighborhood is in a precinct President Joe Biden won in 2020 by a 5.6% margin, an improvement for the Democratic candidate from 2016 when Hillary Clinton and Trump were essentially tied. Biden won Orange County by 23 points four years ago.

Guests invited to the Windermere event were asked to raise or contribute $824,600 to be a top-level “host committee” contributor, according to an event flyer. Photo opportunities were available for $25,000 per person, and a reception at the home was open to those who gave $5,000.

At a donor event in South Florida last week, Gov. Ron DeSantis reportedly told supporters he would help his former presidential primary rival Trump with fundraising. But DeSantis said last month that he didn’t think he would need to appear with Trump in Florida because the state was reliably Republican, despite Trump winning it by just less than 3.5 points in 2020.

The event was part of a string of fundraisers designed to help Trump close the money gap with the Biden campaign. The Biden campaign had $71 million cash on hand in March, more than twice what the Trump campaign had brought in.

Biden’s campaign reported it raised $25 million from a fundraiser in New York late last month featuring his Democratic predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, while the Trump campaign said it amassed a record $50.5 million haul from an event in Palm Beach on Saturday.

Newlin, who recently donned a Make America Great Again hat in a Super Bowl ad for his firm, told the Orlando Sentinel last week he was “an unwavering supporter of President Trump since the moment he descended down the escalator, announcing his first run for president.”

He said his endorsement was personal and unrelated to his law firm, Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys.

The firm gave $5,400 to Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016 and $100,000 to Florida Democrats in 2022.

Newlin’s personal contribution history also includes $150,000 in 2018 to the Florida Democratic Party and thousands of dollars to Democrats such as Orange County property appraiser Amy Mercado and U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee.

But that changed in 2023. He gave $1 million to the Trump-aligned Make America Great Again PAC on Dec. 31, and $100,000 each in 2023 to the Florida Republican Senatorial Campaign and the Defending Conservatism and Democracy PAC.

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