Senator Kelly Loeffler, Republican of Georgia, and her husband, Jeffrey C. Sprecher, chairman of the New York Stock Exchange, did not give to Mr. Trump’s super PACs in 2016. But this year, as Ms. Loeffler’s tough primary battle against Representative Doug Collins intensified, Mr. Sprecher sent $1 million to America First, a contribution that Ms. Loeffler’s aides say was not tied to her push for an endorsement. (Mr. Trump has stayed neutral).
Mr. Trump has filled his administration with wealthy individuals, and a number have become major donors to America First in the 2020 cycle.
They include Mr. Trump’s ambassador to Britain, Robert Wood Johnson IV, who has given $1 million to the PAC after contributing nothing last cycle, and Kelly Craft, Mr. Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. Ms. Craft and her husband, Joseph W. Craft III, a billionaire coal executive, gave $750,000 to a super PAC that supported Mr. Trump in 2016, and $500,000 to America First in March.
Several of Mr. Trump’s recent donors, including Mr. Craft, have direct ties to the energy industry, including coal. In 2017, the administration tried to subsidize the stockpiling of coal at energy plants, and it has subsequently taken various steps to weaken Obama-era restrictions on coal plant emissions.
Others with ties to that industry have increased their giving to Mr. Trump since 2016, including Syed Javaid Anwar, the former president of Midland Energy, who together with his wife tripled in this cycle what they had given in 2018.
And some new, big-dollar donors, like Dana White, the founder of Ultimate Fighting Championship, a mixed-martial arts promotion company, have backed Mr. Trump’s push to reopen the economy amid the pandemic.