‘Bitter’ Trump Demanded Donors ‘Do More, Appreciate Him More and Help Him More’ During Tense Dinner

Former President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump gave donors to his campaign a hard time during a recent dinner meeting at Trump Tower according to a report from The New York Times .

Per the Times , Trump “tore through a bitter list of grievances” over “steak and baked potatoes” during a dinner party featuring, among others, Paul Singer , Warren Stephens , Betsy DeVos , and Joe Ricketts .

From the report:

He made it clear that people, including donors, needed to do more, appreciate him more and help him more.

He disparaged Vice President Kamala Harris as “retarded.” He complained about the number of Jews still backing Ms. Harris, saying they needed their heads examined for not supporting him despite everything he had done for the state of Israel.

At one point, Mr. Trump seemed to suggest that these donors had plenty to be grateful to him for. He boasted about how great he had been for their taxes, something that some privately noted wasn’t true for everyone in the room.

The rant, described by seven people with knowledge of the meal who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, underscored a reality three weeks before Election Day: Mr. Trump’s often cantankerous mood in the final stretch. And one of the reasons for his frustration is money. He’s trailing his Democratic rival in the race for cash and has had to hustle to keep raising it.

Trump has been outspent by his Democratic opponent in each of his prior bids for the presidency, including when he beat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt pointed out as much in a statement to the Times .

“If money guaranteed electoral success, Hillary Clinton would have been president,” said Leavitt. “Kamala Harris has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and is still performing worse than any Democrat who has ever ran against President Trump. Meanwhile, President Trump is in a better financial position than ever before, and he’s leading in the polls.”

The race between Trump and Harris remains extremely close going into the final few weeks before election day, with election analyst Nate Silver’s model giving Harris and Trump a nearly dead even shot at winning the White House.