Which US presidential candidates have accepted donations from pro-Israel PACs?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
Multiple high‑profile U.S. presidential figures have taken money or benefited from spending by pro‑Israel political action committees and affiliated super PACs; reporting and PAC disclosures specifically link Donald Trump, Nikki Haley and several other major Republican figures to pro‑Israel PAC spending, while AIPAC and allied groups report backing a broad bipartisan slate of candidates including Democrats and Republicans in 2024 [1] [2] [3]. Public databases such as OpenSecrets and trackers like TrackAIPAC document expansive pro‑Israel giving to federal campaigns but the available sources do not provide a single, exhaustive roster of every presidential contender who ever accepted such funds without further data queries [4] [5] [6].
1. Donald Trump: the recipient at scale
Investigations and watchdog trackers point to very large sums from pro‑Israel interests flowing to Donald Trump’s campaigns and allied outside groups; TrackAIPAC’s analysis states more than $230 million in spending by pro‑Israel interest groups benefiting Trump since 2020, with Preserve America PAC singled out for pouring the lion’s share of that money into Trump‑aligned efforts [1]. That figure is supported by multiple trackers and profiles that document both direct PAC contributions and super‑PAC/independent expenditures routed to support his candidacy and related infrastructure, showing clear, documented pro‑Israel financial activity on Trump’s behalf [1] [7].
2. Nikki Haley: donor ties through super‑PAC channels
Reporting specifically notes that large individual pro‑Israel donors have channeled money into super PACs backing Nikki Haley; for example, The Guardian identifies Jan Koum as a $5 million donor who also gave to a super PAC supporting Haley, tying pro‑Israel philanthropists and allied donors to her presidential effort via outside spending rather than necessarily direct PAC-to‑campaign checks [2]. This reflects a broader pattern where pro‑Israel donors and aligned organizations deploy both direct PAC contributions and independent super‑PAC spending to influence presidential contests [2] [7].
3. Other Republican presidential figures named in reporting
Several other Republican figures who have been presidential contenders or closely linked to presidential politics are explicitly named in the sources as recipients of pro‑Israel PAC money or allied donor support: Marco Rubio’s long relationship with Adelson family giving is cited, and Ted Cruz’s reported pro‑Israel cycle totals are discussed in FEC‑based analyses [1] [8]. These citations demonstrate that pro‑Israel PACs and major donors have a history of supporting multiple Republican presidential hopefuls through a mix of direct contributions, affiliated PACs and independent expenditures [1] [8].
4. Democrats and the bipartisan sweep of AIPAC’s 2024 support
AIPAC and its PAC affiliates publicly state they backed hundreds of candidates across parties in 2024, claiming support for 361 pro‑Israel Democratic and Republican candidates with more than $53 million in direct support through its PAC in that cycle, which implies Democratic presidential figures and presidential‑level committees were also within the universe of recipients or targets of pro‑Israel giving [3]. OpenSecrets and AIPAC profiles confirm AIPAC and allied groups routinely report contributions and spending across the Democratic‑Republican divide, though the sources here do not enumerate a complete list of which Democratic presidential campaigns accepted direct PAC checks without further FEC lookups [4] [7].
5. Data sources, limits and why precision matters
The best publicly available evidence comes from FEC filings compiled by databases such as OpenSecrets, AIPAC’s own disclosures, independent trackers like TrackAIPAC and investigative pieces in outlets such as The Guardian; these show both direct PAC contributions and much larger super‑PAC and independent expenditures benefiting named presidential figures, but none of the provided sources offers a single, definitive roll of every presidential candidate who has accepted pro‑Israel PAC money across cycles — compiling that would require targeted OpenSecrets/ FEC queries for each candidate and each PAC [4] [5] [6]. Where sources name individuals, the reporting supports asserting they accepted or benefited from pro‑Israel PAC/donor activity; where sources speak in aggregate (AIPAC’s claim of hundreds supported), that indicates broad bipartisan reach without supplying an itemized presidential list in the materials provided [3] [7].