Most of the RNC’s spring retreat took place a 10-minute drive south of Trump’s club, at the Four Seasons resort in Palm Beach. There, about 360 donors at the poolside beach hotel mingled with Republican officials, including Chair Ronna McDaniel and Co-Chair Tommy Hicks. But on Saturday night, a shuttle will take guests up the road to Mar-a-Lago, where Trump will address the retreat behind closed doors.
With the party completely out of power in Washington for the first time in four years, GOP donors have been eager to learn from leaders how Republicans can reclaim the House and Senate in 2022 and the White House in 2024. But the question of how big a role Trump will and should play in the future of the GOP.
For the former president’s boosters, the weekend is another clear example that the party remains loyal to Trump.
Saturday’s speech will be welcome words to Republican donors visiting Mar-a-Lago to hear directly from President Trump, said Jason Miller, a senior adviser to Trump. “Palm Beach is the new center of political power and President Trump is the Republican Party’s best messenger.”
Trump even dominated the retreat before his Saturday headlining event. The possibility of him running for president again in 2024 remains a difficult reality for those Republicans who are also considering bids and trying to forge relationships with political benefactors.
While the Palm Beach location was a concession of convenience to Trump, the presence of other White House Republican hopefuls is meant to indicate the RNC’s official neutrality policy towards the 2024 primary.
The potential candidates include three of Florida’s top elected officials: Governor Ron DeSantis and Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, both of whom may also run for president, also spoke at the retreat.
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who has taken steps suggesting a run in the White House, was scheduled to appear, but did not.
Most of the backers who attended the retreat were both loyal Trump donors – one was seen on Friday walking to the Four Seasons pool deck wearing a blue ‘Make America Great Again’ ball cap – and staunch Republicans wanting the party build up.
That endeavor is more complicated for the significant number of GOP donors who are not so in love with Trump, but want to help the party regain power in Washington.
“No one knows what the Trump effect will be in 2022 or 2024. He has made a promise to the primary (Republicans who don’t support him), so a good number of them don’t want to risk that,” said Fred Zeidman, a Republican donor from Texas. which was not in Palm Beach. “He has not made a statement that he will not be active in 2024, so it limits what anyone can do now for fear of alienating Trump’s supporters.”
The special guest list for the closed press retreat, obtained by CNN, shows a slate of speakers firmly in the Republican Party Trump’s camp, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, and former Trump White House assistant Kellyanne Conway.
Former acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf and two rivals for the GOP nomination for the United States Senate in Ohio – Jane Timken and Josh Mandel, both of whom had praised their pro-Trump credentials, were also there with donors.
CNN’s Jamie Gangel contributed to this report.