Sarah Huckabee Sanders directs money to Trump through gubernatorial campaign events at Mar-a-Lago, report says

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Donald Trump’s former press secretary-turned-candidate-for-Arkansas-governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, reportedly held campaign events at Mar-a-Lago that funnelled almost $11,000 to the Florida club.

According to state filings for the first quarter of 2021, reported by Forbes, Ms Sanders’ campaign paid her former boss’ club $10,700 for event catering of the March event.

"Great weekend on the campaign trail featuring a surprise appearance at one of my events by President Trump!" Ms Sanders said in a tweet after the fundraiser.

The sojourn to Palm Beach raised $35,000 in campaign contributions, enough to cover her other travel costs and expenses, according to an analysis of the campaign finance filing by The Arkansas Times.

Ms Sanders returned to Mar-a-Lago in April for another campaign fundraiser, and another visit from Mr Trump, but those campaign filings will not be available until the next quarterly report.

"Thank you President Trump for hosting an amazing event for my campaign last night!" she said in another post-event tweet.

Ms Sanders is one of several of the Republican who are taking their campaign activities directly to Mar-a-Lago and, by extension, its owner, Mr Trump.

As reported by The Washington Post before Ms Sanders hosted her April event, the club has been repeatedly booked by the party faithful.

The Republican National Committee booked a 400-person banquet with a price tag of more than $100,000, according to a person involved in the planning quoted by the Post. The Conservative Partnership Institute held a two-day summit.

Senators Marco Rubio and Rand Paul scheduled fundraisers at the club, while Republican candidates who have paid to reserve ballrooms at Trump Organization clubs include Mike Lee, Ron DeSantis, Kristi L Noem, Lynda Blanchard and Max Miller, according to the Post.

Jason Miller, a spokesman for Mr Trump, told the publication that the president didn’t need to ask anyone to come to Mar-a-Lago as he’s the biggest name in politics that everyone wants to support.

“Mar-a-Lago and Palm Beach are the centres of the Republican universe right now,” he said. “All Republican roads lead to Mar-a-Lago."