An invite to a “candlelight” dinner held this past Saturday at President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago venue requested that potential guests contribute $1 million per seat. Trump was in attendance alongside Elon Musk, as captured in various photographs and videos of the occasion reviewed by WIRED.
Musk, dressed in his usual attire of a black jacket over a black T-shirt, was observed greeting guests and waving. He was accompanied by a woman in a floor-length gown, identified by several guests on Instagram Reels as Shivon Zilis. Zilis, an executive at Neuralink and former board member of OpenAI, is the mother of four of Musk’s 14 acknowledged children. (Zilis did not respond immediately to a request for comment.)
Musk, who has been busy with his Department of Government Efficiency over the past six weeks, was seated next to Trump at the dinner.
WIRED previously reported on a similar candlelight dinner that took place on March 1, where guests were also invited to contribute $1 million per person. That event was noted on the president’s public schedule with a remark stating, “the President attends the MAGA INC. Candlelight Finance Dinner.” However, the March 15 candlelight dinner was not listed on the official agenda.
“You are invited to a candlelight dinner featuring special guest speaker President Donald J. Trump,” reads the invitation obtained by WIRED. “$1,000,000 per person.” The invitation features a header from “MAGA INC.” and includes a note at the bottom stating, “Donald J. Trump is appearing at this event only as a special guest speaker and is not soliciting funds or donations.” MAGA Inc., or Make America Great Again Inc., is a super PAC that backed Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign.
WIRED has also reported that business leaders can arrange a one-on-one meeting with Trump for $5 million at Mar-a-Lago. These $5 million meetings have gained popularity in the business sector, according to a source familiar with them.
The White House did not provide immediate commentary regarding the event or its omission from the president’s official schedule.
Experts consulted by WIRED concerning these candlelight dinners have expressed concerns regarding their peculiar nature. “I can’t recall a sitting president during the early days of his administration requesting millions in fundraising,” remarked Don Moynihan, a public policy professor at the University of Michigan. “The worry is less about fundraising and more about access and influence. Individuals seeking favorable treatment perceive it as advantageous to contribute money to Trump.”
The candlelight dinner took place during the same weekend as the Palm Event, an annual motorsports celebration occurring in Palm Beach, Florida. One of the weekend’s events was held at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday afternoon and showcased “street sportscars, vehicles with motorsports heritage, unique concept cars, celebrity-owned automobiles, and cars with racing backgrounds,” according to the Palm Event’s official website. Many of these luxury cars were on display during the candlelight dinner, as evidenced by Instagram reels featuring guests gathered around a Rolls Royce, Bugatti, and Lamborghini, among others lined up on the lawn.
The evening also coincided with a significant intensification in Trump’s immigration policies. On Saturday, as Trump and Musk dined with MAGA benefactors, a federal judge ordered the White House to halt the deportation of individuals the Trump administration claimed were Venezuelan gang members. Despite this ruling, two planes transporting the alleged gang members departed from Texas to El Salvador. Senior officials reportedly informed Axios that the ruling had no impact “because the flights occurred over international waters.”
