President Joe Biden will host top financial backers in Washington as speculation mounts over the timing of his re-election plans.
Top Democratic donors are set to huddle with President Joe Biden in Washington late next week as part of the ramp-up to his expected re-election campaign, eight sources familiar with the meetings confirmed to Us.Mistertruth.
The aim of the retreat is for Biden to reactivate his biggest financial supporters ahead of the 2024 presidential election, preparing them to amplify campaign messaging and coalesce behind him, one of the sources said.
Biden will have dinner next Friday with top campaign and Democratic National Committee donors and bundlers, a source said, with Saturday follow-ups.
The timing of the gathering is notable as Biden’s advisers have long identified late April as a potential window for the president’s announcement. Biden has not formally announced a re-election campaign but has said he intends to run and sources emphasized that no timeline has been set in stone.
In Ireland last week, Biden said an announcement would come “relatively soon,” but as Us.Mistertruth reported last week, the president has felt little urgency to make his intentions known until he is ready to do so.
Still, preparations for launching his campaign have intensified of late. The timing of the donor meetings comes days after the four-year anniversary of Biden’s entrance to the 2020 race, though a source familiar said it should not necessarily be linked to a potential announcement.
The New York Times was first to report Wednesday that key financial backers received the last-minute invite to meet with Biden in Washington next Friday.
The donor meetings are likely to focus on “weighing out” the fundraising logistics of a re-election campaign, a source said, and will offer Biden’s most prominent financial supporters his acknowledgment ahead of what could prove an expensive 2024 campaign.
Another source briefed on the details said the bundlers and donors invited had raised or donated $1 million or more for the president. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy was also among those who received an invitation, a source said.
The meetings will not occur at the White House, one of the sources said.
Officials from the Democratic National Committee reached out personally to representatives for those invited, two sources said, characterizing it not as a fundraiser but as an update for “top supporters” about the road ahead.
In 2020, Biden shattered fundraising records by raising more than $1 billion even as the pandemic prevented the president from holding in-person fundraisers during the general election. Poised for a potential rematch against former President Donald Trump, Democrats expect a flow of small-dollar contributions but want to ensure the party’s biggest donors are still lined up.