Donald Trump courted some of Wall Street's biggest donors on Tuesday to kick-start a fundraising effort that is lagging far behind Hillary Clinton's.
Among the major donors spotted heading into the dinner, at Manhattan's Le Cirque restaurant, was the Long Island hedge-fund manager Robert Mercer. Mercer is the biggest spender so far in the 2016 election cycle and hasn't publicly disclosed whether he would support Trump's presidential bid. Previously, he put $13.5 million behind Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Trump's closest rival for the Republican nomination before he dropped out.
Also on hand were billionaire financiers Carl Icahn and John Paulson. Other familiar faces from the Republican fundraising circuit included former U.S. ambassador to Belgium Bruce Gelb; Woody Johnson, the owner of the New York Jets; and the investment manager Anthony Scaramucci.
Trump spent about two hours at the event, and spoke for almost half an hour while guests dined on ricotta ravioli, roast branzini, and sirloin. His entourage included most of his immediate family and Paul Manafort, his campaign chairman.
With about 60 guests at $50,000 a seat, the event probably raised around $3 million, Scaramucci said in a brief interview as he left. Combined with a breakfast planned for Wednesday morning, Scaramucci said the two events would probably bring in a total of $5 million to $7 million for Trump's joint fundraising committee, which benefits his campaign, the Republican National Committee, and state party coffers.
With his first major New York fundraiser, Trump is working to catch up to Clinton's money machine after mostly relying on free media attention and his own fortune to fund his Republican primary victories.
The urgency of that task became apparent on Monday, when the campaigns disclosed their financial reports for May. Despite declaring early that month that he would begin soliciting donations, Trump raised only $3.1 million in all of May -- about what Clinton raises in three days. He started June with $1.3 million on hand and little support from outside groups known as super-political action committees. Clinton had $42.5 million on hand and more than $50 million in the main super-PAC that backs her.
Trump recently helped raise $12 million during a recent multi-state fundraising swing, he said Tuesday in an interview on Fox News. But Clinton has had more than a year's head start at building a donor base.
Although Trump is a billionaire real-estate developer and reality-TV star who made his career in Manhattan, he's struggled to make inroads among the city's donor class. Virtually all the city's top Republican donors had picked other candidates who have since dropped out—especially former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.
Even Peter Kalikow, who says he's been friends with Trump for more than 40 years and who helped organize Tuesday's dinner, supported another candidate in the Republican primary, Ohio Governor John Kasich.