Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Thursday that he’s spoken with casino magnate and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, but that he doesn’t want his money.
“I had one conversation with Sheldon, and all he wants to do is protect Israel,” Mr. Trump said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “But I don’t want his money. I don’t need his money. Hey, I am putting up my own money. I built an unbelievable company. I have a cash flow that’s enormous. It’s ridiculous.”
“If you would have said that I would have been doing this kind of numbers 25 years ago, I would have laughed at you,” he said. “The last thing I need — you’re talking about peanuts for a campaign. I mean, it’s actually not a lot of money.”
Part of Mr. Trump’s pitch to voters has been that unlike regular politicians, he can’t be controlled by well-financed individuals or special interests.
Mr. Trump brushed aside a Politico report that said he and/or his surrogates had reached out to Mr. Adelson, as well as billionaire benefactor Paul Singer, and people within the Koch brothers network, and said he doesn’t know who Mr. Singer is.
“The only thing I can tell you is that Sheldon Adelson is very well-protected because I will take care of Israel,” he said. “But his primary thing, I would say 99.99 [percent] is Israel.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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