BY ZACH KAHN in the UNITED STATES
Guam. A US territory in Micronesia that 168,000 people call home.
A World War II battleground in the Western Pacific.
An island known for its warm climate, beautiful beaches, and rich Chamorro culture.
Turns out Guam is also a paradise for the Republican Party.
Check out this chart:
Fact: The Republican Party of Guam had one donor who gave $48 in 2023.
Fact: The Republican Party of Guam had 193 donors who gave $1,930,000 in 2024.
So, in 2024, 193 people donated $10,000 to a political party located 6,000 miles away from the mainland United States on an island that can’t vote for President.
What’s going on here? Why did all these people donate to GOP Guam?
As you probably guessed, it’s not because they wanted a GOP majority on a remote island. Let’s take a deeper dive.
February 14, 2024
On February 14, 2024, Jamie McCourt – former LA Dodger CEO, high-profile divorcee, and Trump mega-fundraiser – donated $10,000 to GOP Guam. (McCourt is an interesting character; check out this podcast).
McCourt’s was the first of 193 donations of $10,000 to the Republican Party of Guam in 2024. $10,000 is the maximum amount a single person can donate to a state party.
All of the 193 donors, including McCourt, donated to GOP Guam through “Trump 47 Committee Inc.,” a joint fundraising committee.
What is the Trump 47 Committee Inc.?
Trump 47 Committee Inc. is a joint fundraising committee (JFC) – an entity that facilitates donations to many smaller political committees to fundraise all at once. Think of it as a group tip jar.
Per The Washington Post, the maximum legally allowed donation to the Trump 47 Committee Inc. was $814,600. And here’s how that $814,600 was required to be allocated:
Based on the above chart, in order to donate to a state party like GOP Guam through the Trump 47 Committee Inc., you would have to donate the maximum amounts to Trump’s campaign, Save America PAC, and the RNC first. This adds up to $424,600.
Suspicions Confirmed
Knowing that there was some “other” reason why 193 people donated 10,000 to the Republican Party of Guam, I followed the money and found that 97.83% of the money that was donated to GOP Guam was subsequently transferred to the RNC.
This is technically legal because unlimited transfers between political party committees is allowed.
That’s right, almost all of the money that was “supposed to go” to the Republican Party of Guam went right back to the RNC instead.
Wait. But why didn’t they just donate that money to the RNC in the first place?
Well, turns out that all of the people who donated to the Republican Party of Guam already reached the legal contribution limit to the RNC.
Again, per the chart above, they were already forced to max out their donations to the RNC in order to be eligible to donate to GOP state accounts when donating through the JFC.
So essentially, through this loophole, 193 donors were able to funnel an extra $10,000 each to benefit the RNC. That’s $1,930,000 they weren’t supposed to give!
Legal or not, it is pretty obvious that this isn’t right. Donation limits on national parties like the DNC and RNC are necessary because they prevent wealthy donors from exerting influence over national parties, which shape policies and impact the lives of Americans.
Without donation limits, anyone with enough money can buy influence over either party’s policies and candidates.
Politics turns into a pay-to-play game.
And, well, judging by the list of donors who signed up for this scheme, it looks like it already has. The 193 donors include the following categories:
Cabinet Members and Political Appointees
- Near billionaire Tracy Bisignano, wife of Frank Bisignano, commissioner of the United States Social Security Administration
- Billionaire Linda McMahon, appointed United States Secretary of Education
- Billionaire Kelly Loeffler, appointed the 28th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration
- Billionaire Scott Bessent, appointed US Secretary of the Treasury
- Billionaire David MacNeil, appointed Ambassador at Large for Industrial and Manufacturing Competitiveness
- John Phelan, appointed Secretary of the Navy
- Jacob Helberg, appointed Under Secretary of State (Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment)
- Josh Lobel, put on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board
- Billionaire Elon Musk, former head of DOGE
- Billionaire Miriam Adelson, Trump’s nominee for US Antisemitism Envoy
- John Figueroa, appointed Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- Billionaire Cody Campbell, appointed co-president of Trump’s college sports commission
- Bryce McFerran, appointed Chief Banking Officer of EXIM
- Dan Negrea, Former Special Representative for Commercial and Business Affairs
Ambassadors
- Duke Buchan, nominated by Trump as Ambassador to Morocco
- Benjamin Leon, nominated by Trump as Ambassador to Spain
- Nicole McGraw, nominated by Trump as Ambassador to Croatia
- Dan Newlin, appointed Ambassador to Colombia
- Howard Brodie, appointed Ambassador to Finland
- Billionaire Charles Kushner, appointed Ambassador to France
- Joe Popolo, nominated as the Ambassador to the Netherlands
- Billionaire Melinda Hillebrand, nominated as Ambassador to Costa Rica
- Michael Kavoukjian, nominated as Ambassador to Norway
- Peter Lamelas, nominated as Ambassador to Argentina
- Billionaire Tilman Fertitta, appointed US ambassador to Italy and San Marino
- John Blanchard, husband of Lynda Blanchard, nominee for United States Ambassador to the United Nations’ Agencies for Food and Agriculture
- Billionaire Kenneth Howery, nominated by Trump as Ambassador to Denmark
- Billionaire Jamie McCourt, appointed Ambassador to France and Monaco in Trump’s first term
- Billionaire Woody Johnson, appointed Ambassador to the UK in Trump’s first term
- David T. Fischer, appointed Ambassador to Morocco in Trump’s first term
- John Rakolta, appointed Ambassador to the UAE in Trump’s first term
- Barbara Hale Thornhill, appointed Ambassador to Singapore in Trump’s first term
- Billionaire Kelly Craft, appointed Ambassador to the United Nations in Trump’s first term
Kennedy Center Board Appointees
- Billionaire Jose Fanjul, whose wife, Emilia May Fanjul, appointed as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Billionaire Patricia Duggan, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Billionaire Steve Wynn, whose wife, Andrea Wynn, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Billionaire Lynnette Friess, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Billionaire Kelcy Warren, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Billionaire Carl Lindner, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
- Billionaire Laura Ricketts, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
- Jennifer Fischer, appointed as Member of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
Crypto Investors
- Billionaire Cameron Winklevoss, Crypto Summit Attendee
- Billionaire Tyler Winklevoss, Crypto Summit Attendee
- JP Richardson- Crypto Mogul
- Gary Cardone- Crypto Mogul, brother of billionaire Grant Cardone
- David Bailey, Trump’s Crypto Advisor
Miscellaneous Billionaires
- Robert Mercer- Hedge Fund, AI billionaire
- Roger Norman- Real Estate billionaire
- Diane Hendricks- Founder of ABC Supply
- Kenny Troutt- Founder of Excel Communications
- Andrew Beal- Founder of Beal Bank
- Willis Johnson- Founder of Copart (vehicle salvage and auction company)
- Daniel Snyder- Former owner of the Washington Commanders
- JW Childs- Founder of JW Childs Associates
- Lee R Anderson- Founder of API Inc.
- Jesse Powell- Founder of Kraken (cryptocurrency exchange)
- William Foley- Lawyer billionaire
- John Catsimatidis- Gristedes and D’Agostino Supermarkets billionaire
- Keith Wold- Johnson and Johnson inheritor
- George Bishop- Oil billionaire
- Bryan Sheffield- Oil billionaire
- Thomas Peterffy- Founder of Interactive Brokers
- Bijan Tehrani- Founder of Stake (gambling company)
- Denny Sanford- Founder of First Premier Bank
- Christopher Goldsbury- Pace Foods billionaire
- Jeff Ishbia- Billionaire in Ishbia family
- Thomas Siebel- Founder of Siebel Systems
- Robert Bigelow- Founder of Bigelow Aerospace
- Alex Cline- Son of Coal billionaire Christopher Cline
- Cynthia Fisher- wife of billionaire Jim Koch
- Jared Kushner,- Trump’s son-in-law and future billionaire per Forbes
- Jeffrey Sprecher- Intercontinental Exchange billionaire
- Geoffrey Palmer- Real Estate billionaire
- John Ricketts- Founder of TD Ameritrade
- Phil Ruffin- Circus Hotel and Casino billionaire
- John Paulson- Hedge Fund billionaire
- Harold Hamm- Oil billionaire
- Jimmy John Liautaud- Founder of Jimmy John’s
- Bernard Marcus- Founder of Home Depot
- Marc Andreessen- Founder of Andreessen Horowitz
- John Schnatter- Founder of Papa John’s
- Arthur Demoulas- MarketBasket CEO, member of billionaire family
- Robert Duggan, former CEO of Pharmacyclics
- Daniel Friedkin, owner of the Premier League club Everton
- Phillip Frost, former CEO and chairman of OPKO Health, Inc.
- Herbert Wertheim, founder and president of Brain Power Incorporated
- Gary Schottenstein, member of the Schottenstein family
- Nancy Hiles, wife of billionaire and criminal Marcus Hiles
Oil Moguls
- Carol Adams- Oil And Gas Investor
- Syed Anwar- Oil Mogul
- Harold Courson- Oil Mogul
- Alex Cranberg- Oil Mogul
- Margaret Molleston- Oil Mogul
- Adam Beren- Oil Mogul
- Charles Saulsbury- Oil Mogul
- Vicki Hollub- Oil Mogul
- Doug Scharbauer- Oil Consultant
- Hushang Ansary- former Oil Mogul
Assorted Hangers-On
- Dana White, who has secured a UFC Fight at White House 2026
- Tim Barnard, who is profiting off a pipeline deal threatening pollution in Michigan
- Barbara Gaby, Chairman of the Heritage Foundation, the group that created Project 2025
- Elizabeth Trump Grau, sister of Donald Trump
- Ann Pallan, wife of Robert Trump
- Deborah Magowan- Wife of Former SF Giants Owner Peter Magowan
- John Breslow- Former Hockey Minority Owner
- Veronica Atkins- wife of Robert Atkins, founder of the Atkins diet
- Carl Barney, Former For-Profit College Owner
- David Marcus- Former President of PayPal
- Peggy Johnson- Director of Fox Corporation
- Trevor Milton, pardoned by Trump after being found guilty of securities and wire fraud
- Chelsey Milton- Wife of Trevor Milton
- Mark Determan, Federal Prosecutor at U. S. Department of Justice
- Mike Hodges (learn more about him here)
- Brian Colleran, founder of an Ohio nursing home tied to a Medicaid false claims case
- Daniel Parker, business partner of Brian Colleran.
You can find the full list of donors here.
So what’s the takeaway? It’s hard not to see this list and not think about all of the people Trump put in government roles.
It’s hard not to see this list and not think about how all these donors have already benefited massively from Trump’s policies favorable to the crypto and fossil fuel industries.
It’s hard not to see this list and not think about all of Trump’s policies favorable to billionaires.
And it’s hard not to see this list and not think about Mr. Milton’s pardon.
This loophole may have had a reason to exist, but it wasn’t this.
This entire situation also proves that America needs campaign finance reform in order to stop billionaires and insiders from buying influence.
It’s clear that the current laws designed to separate money and democracy are weak.
The practice of unlimited donation transfers between state and national parties undermines the purpose of having donation limits in the first place.
Zach Kahn is a US high school journalist from North Carolina and a US correspondent for VicNews.
Follow Zach on Substack here or BlueSky here.
