Las Vegas Sands’ Adelson to Back Trump’s Campaign

Dr. Miriam Adelson, the widow of the late Sheldon Adelson and the largest Las Vegas Sands stakeholder, will back Trump’s bid for the presidency, reports say. According to people familiar with the matter, Adelson will support the ex-president’s re-election effort via Preserve America, a super political action committee (PAC).  

Preserve America, which is dedicated to backing Trump, was also active during the 2020 presidential campaign. Back then, the Adelsons contributed $90 million to the organization, cementing themselves as its principal supporters.

This year, the PAC is set to have a bigger role, a source familiar with the matter told Politico. However, as of the time of this writing, there is no indication as to how much Miriam Adelson will contribute to Preserve America.

Adelson owns 46% of LVS equity and, together with her son-in-law, Patrick Dumont, is the majority owner of the Dallas Mavericks. In addition, the Adelson family has a history with Trump and has backed his political stints ever since he expressed support for Israel and agreed to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. As a result, in 2018, Trump awarded Adelson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Trump Is Looking for Additional Backing

In any case, the backing of LVS’s largest stakeholder is something Trump and his supporters are counting on. While the former president’s campaign has been gaining traction, his financing is still lagging behind that of his competitor, Joe Biden. Currently, the latter has $84 million for his campaign against Trump’s $49 million.

In the meantime, the Blackstone Group’s founder, chair and CEO, Stephen Schwarzman, also expressed his intentions to back Trump. This would mirror the Blackstone billionaire’s previous support for the former president. For context, Schwarzman backed both of Trump’s political campaigns in 2016 and 2020.

Adelson, on the other hand, went beyond backing Trump and recently, through a newly formed group called Texas Defense PAC, backed Dade Phelan’s campaign in Texas. This came amid continued efforts to push for casino legalization in Texas. Last year, casino backers failed to get enough votes to legalize destination resort casinos but the industry and its allies are not ready to give up.

However, Adelson’s backing of Phelan’s campaign dismayed critics, some of whom accused the candidate of being hypocritical for taking money from casino lobbyists.