Republican National Committee to hold part of donor retreat at Mar-a-Lago

The Republican National Committee (RNC) will hold part of its spring donors retreat next month at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. 

The retreat, which is scheduled to run from April 9 to 11, is expected to draw some of the GOP’s biggest donors to Palm Beach, Fla., and will feature a speech by Trump, who continues to retain his grip on the party.

Most of the gathering will take place at a nearby luxury hotel. But the RNC plans to hold a Saturday evening dinner at Mar-a-Lago to accommodate Trump. 

The plan to hold a portion of the donors retreat at Trump’s private club was first reported on Monday by The Washington Post. A person familiar with the plans confirmed the move to The Hill. 

A spokesperson for the RNC did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment. 

The planned Saturday dinner event at Mar-a-Lago isn’t out of the ordinary for the RNC. The party regularly held its donors retreat in Palm Beach during Trump’s presidency, with some events at Mar-a-Lago. 

Trump has begun taking on a more active role in Republican politics in recent weeks after a brief quiet period following his departure from office and from Washington, and has publicly floated a potential 2024 presidential bid.

But the donors retreat next month is also expected to draw a handful of prospective White House hopefuls from the GOP party, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The RNC’s decision to move a portion of its donors retreat to Trump’s private club comes after lawyers for the former president sent a cease-and-desist letter to the RNC, the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) demanding that the groups stop using Trump’s name and likeness in their fundraising appeals.

The RNC dismissed those demands on Monday, arguing in a letter to the top lawyer for Trump’s leadership PAC Save America that the party has “a right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech, and it will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”