The Pro-Israeli Lobby, AIPAC, Runs the U.S. Government and Owns Almost All the Politicians
On December 3, 2015, Trump was among 14 presidential candidates speaking at a forum hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition, an influential group and aggressive supporter of Israel. The group and its biggest benefactor — casino magnate Sheldon Adelson — have little tolerance for anything that might be perceived as a criticism of the Jewish state. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was forced to apologize to Adelson personally last year after using the term "occupied territories" while describing a trip to Israel. The Israeli government and by extension most of Israel's supporters in the U.S. don't consider the West Bank and East Jerusalem to be occupied territory. [Source]
While speaking before the Republican Jewish Coalition on December 3, 2015, Trump reiterated that he doesn't know "if Israel has the commitment" to reach a peace deal. He was loudly booed when he refused to say whether he supports Israel's position that Jerusalem is its undivided capital. One of Trump's rivals for the GOP nomination, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, said at the same forum that those calling for more sacrifices from Israel "are dead wrong, and they don't understand the enduring bond between Israel and America." [Source]
Billionaires Sheldon Adelson and Joe Ricketts Plan Donations to Back Donald Trump After Leading the 2015 Movement to Stop Trump from Winning the Republican Nomination
Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson came off the sidelines in the presidential contest. In the last six weeks of the campaign, he pledged at least $25 million to a pro-Trump dark money group, 45Committee, and an associated super PAC, Future45, according to Politico. The groups are run by Todd Ricketts, whose family owns the Chicago Cubs and has a history of big Republican donations; he’s urging other Republicans to fall in line. According to CNN, a Ricketts family insider said the family now has $35 million in the bank, thanks to Adelson, and is planning on boosting the number up to $70 million exclusively for the presidential bid. Ironically, earlier in the year, the Ricketts family helped lead the #NeverTrump movement, giving millions to Our Principles PAC in an effort to stop the combative billionaire from winning the Republican nomination. And they weren’t alone in not supporting Trump — which makes this cycle far different from 2012, when the biggest conservative spenders almost unanimously funneled the majority of their dollars to super PACs of similar purpose, American Crossroads and Restore Our Future, to attack President Obama and support Romney. [Source]Wall Street Journal - Two billionaires are planning to open their pocketbooks for Republican nominee Donald Trump in the final six weeks of the election, as the businessman continues to lag behind Democrat Hillary Clinton in fundraising.
Billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, are planning to spend $45 million to boost Republicans in the next two months, including at least $5 million to help Mr. Trump, according to a person familiar with the plans.
And Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade who donated millions of dollars to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s presidential campaign before pouring $6 million together with his wife into an anti-Trump super PAC, in a stunning reversal now plans to give at least $1 million to a group backing Mr. Trump.
Mr. Adelson’s planned donations—first reported by CNN—would make him easily the largest donor of the election cycle. Yet they fall far short of the $100 million the casino owner had earlier this year pledged to spend on Mr. Trump’s behalf. While Mr. Adelson endorsed Mr. Trump shortly after the primary concluded, he didn’t donate any money to Mr. Trump’s campaign or to pro-Trump super PACs through July, according to the latest Federal Election Commission disclosures.
Republican donor Adelson and Trump may be aligning on Israel
December 19, 2015Reuters - Top Republican Party donor Sheldon Adelson said on Friday he met presidential candidate Donald Trump earlier this week and that the two American billionaires broached the issue at the heart of Adelson's political agenda: support for Israel.
While the mega donor didn't disclose his degree of backing for the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination, he did say he found Trump to be "very charming" and called his standing in the crowded candidate field "unheard of."
"It was very nice," the gambling tycoon told Reuters in a rare interview in Macau when asked if he had met Trump, who leads in opinion polls of Republican voters. "He was very charming."Hours later, Trump returned the compliment to Adelson, telling Reuters,
"Sheldon and I have been friends for a long time. He is an amazing man. I am the only one who doesn't need his money. But I would love his support."On the subject of Israel, Trump added,
"Sheldon knows that nobody will be more loyal to Israel than Donald Trump."The meeting and Trump's pro-Israel stance - coming after more ambiguous remarks a few weeks ago - could pave the way for a deeper relationship between the two men, a month and a half before the first Republican nominating contest in Iowa.
Israel is, by far, the most important issue to Adelson, a fierce supporter of the nation and close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Adelson also owns the newspaper with the largest circulation in Israel, a free daily.
The 82-year-old chief executive of Las Vegas Sands Corp (LVS.N), the world's biggest gambling company by market value, made his comments a few days after hosting the latest debate among Republican Party presidential candidates at the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, where and his Israeli-born wife, Miriam, an accomplished medical doctor and philanthropist, live.
Adelson said much of his discussion with Trump was about Israel.
"He (Trump) had talked about potentially dividing Jerusalem and Israel, so I talked about Israel because with our newspaper, my wife being Israeli, we are the few who know more about Israel than people who don't," Adelson said.Courted by most of the Republican candidates and widely expected to be the party's top donor in the November 2016 presidential election, Adelson said earlier on Friday during a news conference that he may wait until February's primaries to decide who to back. He described the field of Republican candidates as "all very good".
RECOVERING FROM A MISSTEP
Some 14 candidates are still in the race for the Republican Party nomination. The latest Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Trump leading the field with support of 31 percent of Republican voters, followed by Texas Senator Ted Cruz at 17 percent, pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 13 percent, Florida Senator Marco Rubio at eight percent and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at seven percent.
"We like a lot of the candidates, some more than the others," Adelson said during the interview in Macau, the world's largest gambling hub, ahead of the formal opening of his new St. Regis hotel in the former Portuguese colony,Asked what characteristics he would like the Republican party's nominee to embody, Adelson said, "They have got to be able to win."
"It's changing every day. I saw in the news today that Trump said his percentage approval was 41 percent. Out of 14 candidates, 41 percent is unheard of."
Trump's brash, off-the-cuff style has not dented his popularity, despite predictions to the contrary. But on Israel, he did find himself in trouble two weeks ago, and he also angered prominent Jewish leaders with his comments on Muslims.
Speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition in Washington, Trump wavered in answering a question about whether he would consider Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel, drawing boos from the crowd.
Palestinians want East Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, for their future state. Israel regards all of Jerusalem as its indivisible capital, a claim not recognized internationally.
A week after Trump spoke to the gathering of Jewish leaders, and in the wake of a shooting by two Muslim radicals in California that killed 14, Trump proposed barring all foreign Muslims from entering the United States. His call drew the immediate ire of some prominent Jewish Republicans.
Trump does, however, have deep ties to the Jewish community. He is the only presidential candidate who lives, makes deals and hobnobs among some of the world's most prominent Jewish power figures on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
He's also the only Republican candidate with Jewish grandkids: his daughter, Ivanka, became Orthodox after marrying real estate scion Jared Kushner. The family keeps kosher, observes the Sabbath and attends the upscale synagogue Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun.
BUYS LAS VEGAS NEWSPAPER
In Macau, Adelson also made his first public comments confirming his family's acquisition of the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper.
The $140 million deal to buy the largest paper in the state of Nevada, an important swing state, had been shrouded in secrecy.
Described by Forbes magazine as the 15th richest man in the United States, Adelson said his family had bought the paper as a financial investment, dismissing speculation the deal was aimed at controlling media in the United States.
"The Review-Journal is already on my side of the political spectrum," Adelson said.Related:
"This newspaper has been making money...we left the (everyday) operation in the hands of the owner from who we bought it."
"We are not going to hire an editor, we left it up to them (current management), period. We may take some of the positive characteristics of our Israeli newspaper and add them to there but that's all just suggestions."
Donald Trump Doubts Israel's Commitment to a Peace Deal with Palestine, and Rightfully So, Because Israel's Position is That Jerusalem is Its Undivided Capital (Palestine Wants East Jerusalem as Its Capital)
Adelson pours $25 million into White House race, more may be coming
ReplyDeleteOctober 31, 2016
FoxNews.com
EXCLUSIVE: Billionaire Sheldon Adelson just committed $25 million to an anti-Hillary Clinton Super PAC to try and help tilt the presidential race and down ballot House and Senate races to Republicans, Fox News learned Monday. There are indications the casino magnate will pony up even more by the end of the week.
Two senior Republican sources familiar with the donation described it to Fox News as a “massive” amount of money to be spent during the final week of the presidential race and a sign that Adelson, who has largely been on the sidelines after initially suggesting he would give $100 million to help Donald Trump, is now going all in on the Republican nominee.
The money will benefit Future 45, a Super PAC launched by the Ricketts family in Chicago, founders of TD Ameritrade. The group has recently been running a television ad in battlegrounds comparing Clinton to Richard Nixon, calling her a “secretive, paranoid politician who destroyed 30,000 pieces of evidence.”
The Republican sources said the contribution was made in the last few days as the FBI re-ignited its investigation of Clinton’s email server, and could spark other big GOP donors – who may have thought the Democratic nominee was coasting to victory just days ago -- to step up their support of Trump in the final days.
Most importantly, one source familiar with the Adelson contribution revealed he is considering pouring as much as another $25 million dollars into the race before Election Day on November 8.
The first major contribution came as Trump visited Adelson’s Venetian resort and casino in Las Vegas for a rally with supporters on Sunday. Trump praised Adelson and his wife, Miriam, without any reference to the money that went to the Super PAC.
“I’d like to thank the owner of this great hotel, and his incredible wife – she’s an incredible woman – Sheldon Adelson,” Trump said to cheers. “Really incredible people and they’ve been so supportive and we appreciate it.”
The move represents a startling turnaround for the Ricketts and Adelson.The Ricketts initially spent millions trying to stop Trump from getting the Republican nomination, after backing Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the GOP primaries.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/10/31/adelson-pours-25-million-into-white-house-race-more-may-be-coming.html