Former President Donald Trump paid a visit to Beverly Hills on June 7 to attend a campaign fundraiser at the private residence of nursing home mogul and longtime Republican party donor Lee Samson.
A group of loyal supporters, including many Beverly Hills residents, organized a street side rally on Sunset Boulevard to cheer on Trump. As his motorcade passed the crowd around 4 p.m., fans excitedly waved American and Israeli flags, unfurled Trump 2024 banners and cheered “We want Trump!”
While overall more Beverly Hills residents voted for Biden than Trump in the 2020 election, the city contains some of the only precincts in Los Angeles that voted red. For example, a majority of voters in the Trousdale Estates and surrounding streets north of Sunset Boulevard favored Trump in 2020.
Beverly Hills resident Kristen Williamson was thrilled by Trump’s visit and brought her five children with her to the rally.
“We just love him and what he does for the country and his perseverance,” Williamson told the Courier. “Obviously he’s being persecuted right now, most likely illegally, and it’s just a complete two-tiered justice system.”
Trump’s visit to Beverly Hills comes days after he was found guilty of 34 felonies in a New York court. This verdict has been met with strong backlash from many Republicans who feel that the case was politically motivated, and it has led to a historic surge in contributions to Trump’s campaign.
“In the last two weeks we’ve seen record fundraising numbers and I think there’s a general revulsion of the fact that we’re going to be trying political candidates in this country,” Chairman of the Republican Party of L.A. County Tim O’Reilly told the Courier. “People are coming out in such strong support of President Trump because they realize this is wrong, you don’t do that, that’s not an American thing to do.”
Another group of Trump supporters gathered outside the Samson residence on Elm Drive, hoping to catch a glimpse of the former president coming in and out of the fundraiser.
Samson is the owner of Windsor Healthcare Management, which operates more than 30 nursing homes across California and Arizona. He has a long history of fundraising for the Republican party and serves on the board of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
After Trump decided to relocate the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, Samson was part of the American delegation at the embassy’s opening. He was also one of very few invited to witness the signing of the Abraham Accords, which established diplomatic relations between Israel and the UAE, at the White House.
Samson previously hosted Trump at his home in 2019 for a campaign fundraiser that raised $5 million. And he hosted Ivanka Trump for a fundraiser in 2020 that raised an additional $2 million for the reelection campaign.
Trump’s recent visit to Beverly Hills comes as part of a three-day fundraising swing through California.
On June 6, he attended a Bay Area fundraiser hosted by Silicon Valley venture capitalists Chamath Palihapitiya and David Sacks and Sack’s wife Jacqueline. Then on June 8, he headed down to Newport Beach to attend a fundraiser hosted by VR entrepreneur Palmer Lackey.
“California is certainly a fundraising capital for both the Republicans and the Democrats, there’s no question about that,” said O’Reilly. “So, I would venture to say it’s certainly not the last we’ve seen of the former president. I expect him to return several times.”
President Biden, meanwhile, has already made three fundraising trips to Los Angeles since December 2023. And he’ll be back in town next weekend for a major event in DTLA with speakers including Barack Obama, George Clooney and Julia Roberts.
