Deplorable:
As the Nevada caucuses drew to a close in February, Donald J. Trump and several top aides gathered for a quick dinner in a suite atop his hotel in Las Vegas before he descended and declared victory.
But the Republican billionaire at the center of attention during the meal was not Mr. Trump — it was Dr. Miriam Adelson.
The former president, by then on a glide path to the Republican nomination, wanted financial support from Dr. Adelson, a conservative megadonor, and she had a request or two. Be less bombastic, she told him, and speak more directly about the economy. But more important, she made clear to Mr. Trump and his top aides, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, be patient.
She would not donate to him while Nikki Haley, his last rival standing and a friend of hers, remained in the race, according to two people briefed on the meeting who insisted on anonymity to describe a private gathering.
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But once the primary was over? She gave Mr. Trump a renewed assurance that the famous Adelson geyser of cash — which had shot out hundreds of millions of dollars over more than a decade — would erupt again.
It would have been uncouth that evening on the Strip to put dollars and cents on it, but Dr. Adelson is now fulfilling her promise, making moves to spend more than $90 million to help Mr. Trump’s third White House bid.
She is poised to become one of the biggest donors in the presidential election — and, if Mr. Trump wins, one of the most powerful private citizens with a say in American foreign policy. Fiercely hawkish on Israel, she was deeply unnerved by the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 and would be likely to shape a second Trump administration’s posture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dr. Adelson, 78, has never been a shrinking violet, but she long operated in the shadow of her husband, Sheldon G. Adelson, who ascended to first-name-only status in Republican circles. Mr. Adelson died at 87 in January 2021, ushering her into a new era: For the first time in presidential politics, she is a solo practitioner.
“I’m pretty sure that her North Star going forward is going to be what she thinks Sheldon would have done if he were still alive,” said David M. Friedman, Mr. Trump’s former ambassador to Israel and a longtime confidant of the couple. He was one of nearly 20 associates of Dr. Adelson’s in business and politics who spoke about her to The New York Times, some of them insisting on anonymity to offer candor.
“Miri,” as friends call Dr. Adelson, a physician who specializes in drug addiction and is known for her distinctive highlighter-blond hair and pink-tinted glasses, is one of the wealthiest women in the world. She is, in some ways, a political carbon copy of her husband: intensely pro-Israel, rabidly partisan, and a believer in the nobility of using her money, north of $30 billion, and her media empire to buy influence and shape the world.
But she is also, by the accounts of people who have pitched her, a tougher ask. She is seen as more cerebral and disciplined. Where Mr. Adelson enjoyed the game of politics and obsessed over tactics — he wasn’t above editing the script of an advertisement, one of the people said — Dr. Adelson is more driven by whatever is happening in American and Israeli news. Her fervor for Mr. Trump, some of his allies say, actually exceeds her late husband’s: At one point, she suggested adding a “Book of Trump” to the Bible.
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Unlike the Boston-reared Mr. Adelson, Dr. Adelson was born in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew, her English marked by a heavy Israeli accent. A former officer in the Israel Defense Forces, she spends most of her time these days not in their longtime home Las Vegas but in Israel, where she holds dual citizenship.
Her Israeli nationalism has tethered her to Mr. Trump, especially since Oct. 7. She has argued that people who criticize Israel or offer only qualified support are “dead to us.”
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The Adelsons’ bond with him was etched in stone when his administration moved the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv: They sat in the front row at the opening ceremony, and would later pay $88 million for the Mediterranean villa in Herzliya where the ambassador had lived before the embassy move, helping to ensure that a future administration could not easily reverse it. When Dr. Adelson entered the home for the first time after buying it, shortly after her husband’s death, she wore a pair of his ill-fitting shoes, Mr. Friedman recalled her telling him.
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This year, Dr. Adelson does not have a specific wishlist for Mr. Trump, three people close to her said, in contrast to when she and her husband implored Mr. Trump to move the embassy. Her spokesman, Andy Abboud, denied a recent report that Dr. Adelson was urging Mr. Trump to publicly support an annexation of the West Bank by the Israeli government in exchange for her backing.
But Shmuley Boteach, a rabbi and a longtime friend of the couple, said he believed Dr. Adelson supported annexation and considered so-called “land for peace” deals to actually be “land for war.”
“Do I believe that Miriam supports the creation of a Palestinian state? Absolutely not,” Mr. Boteach said. “Those of us who are part of her circle and share her values,” he continued, would oppose territorial concessions “if there was any doubt whatsoever that the creation of the Palestinian state would lead to murdered Jews.”
Not everyone in Dr. Adelson’s orbit believes that Mr. Trump will deliver for her if he wins a second term. John R. Bolton, a longtime friend of the Adelsons who saw them meet with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office multiple times, argued that she was bound to be disappointed this time around.
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“Trump says anything he thinks he can get away with to the audience at the time,” said Mr. Bolton, who turned against Mr. Trump after serving as his national security adviser. “Anybody who puts stock in what he says in the morning is likely to be disappointed by the afternoon if he says something different to somebody else.”
Dr. Adelson’s bets don’t always pay off. She and her husband enjoyed an extraordinarily close relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who even prevailed upon them to start their own newspaper, Israel Hayom, which enthusiastically promoted his administration. But her relationship with Mr. Netanyahu is now virtually nonexistent, and the paper’s coverage has grown more critical of his leadership.
As the Nevada caucuses drew to a close in February, Donald J. Trump and several top aides gathered for a quick dinner in a suite atop his hotel in Las Vegas before he descended and declared victory.
But the Republican billionaire at the center of attention during the meal was not Mr. Trump — it was Dr. Miriam Adelson.
The former president, by then on a glide path to the Republican nomination, wanted financial support from Dr. Adelson, a conservative megadonor, and she had a request or two. Be less bombastic, she told him, and speak more directly about the economy. But more important, she made clear to Mr. Trump and his top aides, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, be patient.
She would not donate to him while Nikki Haley, his last rival standing and a friend of hers, remained in the race, according to two people briefed on the meeting who insisted on anonymity to describe a private gathering.
Advertisement
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
But once the primary was over? She gave Mr. Trump a renewed assurance that the famous Adelson geyser of cash — which had shot out hundreds of millions of dollars over more than a decade — would erupt again.
It would have been uncouth that evening on the Strip to put dollars and cents on it, but Dr. Adelson is now fulfilling her promise, making moves to spend more than $90 million to help Mr. Trump’s third White House bid.
She is poised to become one of the biggest donors in the presidential election — and, if Mr. Trump wins, one of the most powerful private citizens with a say in American foreign policy. Fiercely hawkish on Israel, she was deeply unnerved by the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 and would be likely to shape a second Trump administration’s posture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Dr. Adelson, 78, has never been a shrinking violet, but she long operated in the shadow of her husband, Sheldon G. Adelson, who ascended to first-name-only status in Republican circles. Mr. Adelson died at 87 in January 2021, ushering her into a new era: For the first time in presidential politics, she is a solo practitioner.
“I’m pretty sure that her North Star going forward is going to be what she thinks Sheldon would have done if he were still alive,” said David M. Friedman, Mr. Trump’s former ambassador to Israel and a longtime confidant of the couple. He was one of nearly 20 associates of Dr. Adelson’s in business and politics who spoke about her to The New York Times, some of them insisting on anonymity to offer candor.
“Miri,” as friends call Dr. Adelson, a physician who specializes in drug addiction and is known for her distinctive highlighter-blond hair and pink-tinted glasses, is one of the wealthiest women in the world. She is, in some ways, a political carbon copy of her husband: intensely pro-Israel, rabidly partisan, and a believer in the nobility of using her money, north of $30 billion, and her media empire to buy influence and shape the world.
But she is also, by the accounts of people who have pitched her, a tougher ask. She is seen as more cerebral and disciplined. Where Mr. Adelson enjoyed the game of politics and obsessed over tactics — he wasn’t above editing the script of an advertisement, one of the people said — Dr. Adelson is more driven by whatever is happening in American and Israeli news. Her fervor for Mr. Trump, some of his allies say, actually exceeds her late husband’s: At one point, she suggested adding a “Book of Trump” to the Bible.
Image
Unlike the Boston-reared Mr. Adelson, Dr. Adelson was born in Israel and speaks fluent Hebrew, her English marked by a heavy Israeli accent. A former officer in the Israel Defense Forces, she spends most of her time these days not in their longtime home Las Vegas but in Israel, where she holds dual citizenship.
Her Israeli nationalism has tethered her to Mr. Trump, especially since Oct. 7. She has argued that people who criticize Israel or offer only qualified support are “dead to us.”
Advertisement
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The Adelsons’ bond with him was etched in stone when his administration moved the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv: They sat in the front row at the opening ceremony, and would later pay $88 million for the Mediterranean villa in Herzliya where the ambassador had lived before the embassy move, helping to ensure that a future administration could not easily reverse it. When Dr. Adelson entered the home for the first time after buying it, shortly after her husband’s death, she wore a pair of his ill-fitting shoes, Mr. Friedman recalled her telling him.
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This year, Dr. Adelson does not have a specific wishlist for Mr. Trump, three people close to her said, in contrast to when she and her husband implored Mr. Trump to move the embassy. Her spokesman, Andy Abboud, denied a recent report that Dr. Adelson was urging Mr. Trump to publicly support an annexation of the West Bank by the Israeli government in exchange for her backing.
But Shmuley Boteach, a rabbi and a longtime friend of the couple, said he believed Dr. Adelson supported annexation and considered so-called “land for peace” deals to actually be “land for war.”
“Do I believe that Miriam supports the creation of a Palestinian state? Absolutely not,” Mr. Boteach said. “Those of us who are part of her circle and share her values,” he continued, would oppose territorial concessions “if there was any doubt whatsoever that the creation of the Palestinian state would lead to murdered Jews.”
Not everyone in Dr. Adelson’s orbit believes that Mr. Trump will deliver for her if he wins a second term. John R. Bolton, a longtime friend of the Adelsons who saw them meet with Mr. Trump in the Oval Office multiple times, argued that she was bound to be disappointed this time around.
Advertisement
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“Trump says anything he thinks he can get away with to the audience at the time,” said Mr. Bolton, who turned against Mr. Trump after serving as his national security adviser. “Anybody who puts stock in what he says in the morning is likely to be disappointed by the afternoon if he says something different to somebody else.”
Dr. Adelson’s bets don’t always pay off. She and her husband enjoyed an extraordinarily close relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who even prevailed upon them to start their own newspaper, Israel Hayom, which enthusiastically promoted his administration. But her relationship with Mr. Netanyahu is now virtually nonexistent, and the paper’s coverage has grown more critical of his leadership.
