The Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual spring leadership meeting begins Friday at the Venetian Resort and Casino in Las Vegas; the site is owned by philanthropist Sheldon Adelson, a man who donated over $90 million to the GOP cause during the 2012 presidential race. One presidential hopeful will attend, but not his rivals.
“A terrific weekend of politics, policy and poker. Attendees will have the opportunity to shake hands, ask questions, and be heard by some of the country’s leading politicians, policymakers and influential leaders,” organizers advise the incoming guests.
The speakers for the two-day event include Sen. Ted Cruz; Govs. Scott Walker, Rick Scott and Charlie Baker; Sen. Ron Johnson; Reps. Lee Zeldin, Joe Heck and Carlos Curbelo; talk-show hosts Hugh Hewitt and Dennis Prager; and pastor John Hagee.
GOP hopefuls Donald Trump and Ohio Gov. John Kasich were invited but declined. The former cleared his public schedule for undisclosed reasons this weekend; the latter has a scheduling conflict. There is a distant chance the nimble Mr. Trump will show up, though things were a little prickly the last time he addressed a meeting of the Republican coalition four months ago.
“You’re not going to support me even though you know I’m the best thing that could happen to Israel. I know why you’re not going to support me — because I don’t want your money. You want to control your own politician,” Mr. Trump said at the time.
But that was then. Mr. Trump offered a very well-received recent speech before a vast audience at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual meeting last month. Mr. Adelson, who has donated to Mr. Cruz’s campaign, has yet to endorse anyone. And he may be warming to the billionaire candidate.
“Trump is a businessman. I am a businessman. He employs a lot of people. I employed 50,000 people. Why not?” Mr. Adelson noted in late February during a Las Vegas event honoring Rudolph W. Giuliani. The former New York City mayor who has revealed, incidentally, that he will vote for Mr. Trump in the state’s April 19 primary.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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