Kochs reject push to meet with Trump
Top Donald Trump donors tried to set up a meeting between the GOP presidential nominee and Charles Koch in Colorado Springs on Friday, but Koch aides rejected the entreaties, according to two Republicans with knowledge of the outreach.
Koch and his brother David Koch, who helm an influential network of advocacy groups and major conservative donors, have been sharply critical of Trump’s rhetoric and policy stances and have indicated they do not intend to support his campaign.
Trump in turn has blasted the Kochs and other major conservative donors as puppeteers to whom his GOP primary rivals were beholden, while he touted the independence from Big Money he said he achieved by largely self-financing his campaign.
But the billionaire first-time candidate has dialed back his anti-donor rhetoric since he clinched the GOP nomination and began active fundraising for a general election campaign in which his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, and her allies are expected to spend upward of $1.5 billion.
The billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, meanwhile, are being urged to reconsider their opposition to Trump by some of the donors in their network who are supporting the Manhattan tycoon, including Minnesota media mogul Stanley S. Hubbard and Dallas investor Ray Washburne, according to the two Republicans familiar with the outreach.
The Republicans, who travel in political finance circles, requested anonymity to discuss private talks. They said that the pro-Trump cohort had lobbied for a Friday meeting.
The Koch brothers and Trump are in town for separate events — Trump for a fundraiser, and the Kochs for the kickoff of the annual summer summit of their donor network at a tony resort in Colorado Springs.
But the Republicans familiar with the push said top Koch aides rejected the idea of a meeting.
“It is not going to happen,” said one of the Republicans, adding that the Kochs appear unlikely to back away from their repeated declarations that they don’t plan to spend any money in the presidential race, and will instead refocus their spending down ballot.
Washburne, who is helping to lead Trump’s fundraising effort, did not respond to requests for a comment. The Trump campaign also did not respond to a request for comment.
Another Trump donor who participates in Koch summits, Doug Deason, told Reuters that he was also pushing for a meeting, explaining, “We think it’s really important that Donald convince Charles he’s the right guy, and for Charles to influence Donald’s policies.”
James Davis, a spokesman for the Koch-backed group Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, which is organizing the Colorado Springs summit, said that there is no meeting planned between Trump and the Kochs.
But he pointed out that a top Koch lawyer, Mark Holden, had met earlier in New York with Trump campaign staff.
“Our team has met with them before to discuss the issues that we care about and helping people improve their lives,” Davis said, adding, however, that the network’s focus “remains on the Senate.”
The Minnesota media billionaire Hubbard, a longtime member of the Koch donor network, initially opposed Trump, but has come around, and said he’ll urge the Kochs to do the same when he sees them this weekend in Colorado Springs.
“Neither one of them [Clinton or Trump] are my cup of tea, but sometimes you bite your tongue and you choose the best of two bad choices,” said Hubbard, who has donated $100,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC. “I think it is time that we get behind Trump because of all the important things such as Supreme Court appointments, which are crucial,” he said, adding that he was aware of the efforts to get the Kochs to meet with Trump.
The network aims to spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the run-up to Election Day, and it would bea significant boost if it decided to support Trump, who is being substantially outspent by Clinton and her allies.
But Davis earlier this month reiterated the network’s intent to sit out the race, even after Trump tapped as his vice presidential running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, a favorite of the Kochs and their donor network.
Pence has appeared at several Koch summits over the years. And, prior to joining Trump’s ticket, he had been scheduled to make an appearance in Colorado Springs this weekend. But he backed out of the appearance, citing campaign responsibilities.
That prompted head scratching in GOP finance circles, since Pence’s deep ties to the Kochs and other major conservative benefactors were considered among his strengths as a vice presidential candidate.