Trump to get a big donation from former Marvel boss Perlmutter

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US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Ike Perlmutter, CEO of Marvel Entertainment, before signing an executive order at the US Department of Veterans Affairs April 27, 2017 in Washington, DC.

Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images

Ike Perlmutter, the former chairman of Marvel Entertainment at Disney, is planning a major donation to support former President Donald Trump’s 2024 run for president, according to his spokesman.

Perlmutter has not yet decided how much he plans to donate to Trump’s run, but a spokesman for the businessman said Thursday that the financial support would be “significant.”

Perlmutter and Trump have been close for more than two decades. Perlmutter previously donated $10.5 million to a pro-Trump super PAC during the 2020 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. Perlmutter’s wife also gave $10.5 million to the same PAC, records show.

Perlmutter also acted as an outside adviser to former President Trump on issues related to the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to ProPublica.

The former Marvel boss, who has a net worth of more than $3 billion, is one of the richest backers of Trump’s 2020 campaign. Many megadonors who previously supported the former president are looking for alternatives after Jan. 6, 2021 pro-Trump riots on Capitol Hill and some lackluster 2022 election results.

The Trump-allied Make America Great Again super PAC will likely receive money from Perlmutter. The super PAC came into this year with just over $54 million on hand and has so far spent more than $19 million on TV and digital ads.

Trump is currently leading the Republican primary polls, ahead of his second-place rival in Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Perlmutter’s decision to endorse Trump again over his Republican rivals could represent another blow to DeSantis. Some of the governor’s donors are concerned about how his campaign has fared. Perlmutter donated more than $250,000 to a state-level PAC that supported his 2018 and 2022 runs for governor, according to campaign finance records. Her husband gave more than $2 million to both pro-DeSantis PACs, records show.

The New York Times reported that Perlmutter recently dined with fellow GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.

Perlmutter, after he was fired from Disney earlier this year, told The Wall Street Journal that he called DeSantis and agreed that the company should not be involved in politics. “Ron, you’re right. Disney has no right to get involved in politics,” Perlmutter reportedly told DeSantis in a phone call. Disney and DeSantis have been at war since the entertainment giant last year slammed a Republican-backed bill that critics called “Don’t Say Gay.”

Perlmutter told the Journal that Disney fired him as chairman of Marvel Entertainment because he aggressively pushed the company to cut costs and had issues with executives allied with newly returned CEO Bob Iger.

A Disney representative told the Journal that the company’s general counsel called Perlmutter to inform him that his employment was being terminated because of the company’s broader cost-cutting efforts. Perlmutter told the publication that he did not recall such a call taking place.

Iger told CNBC on Thursday that he rejected DeSantis’ campaign rhetoric against the company, calling the Republican presidential candidate’s attacks “outrageous and inaccurate.” Iger also said there will be a pullback in spending and content production for the Star Wars and Marvel franchises.

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