THE BILLIONAIRES RALLYING BEHIND TRUMP AFTER HIS CONVICTION

(BBC) Ultra-wealthy Republican donors are rallying behind former US President Donald Trump following his historic trial and criminal conviction.

Mr Trump, the Republican candidate for this November's White House election, was found guilty of falsifying business records to conceal hush money paid to former adult-film star Stormy Daniels.

While he has lagged behind Joe Biden and the Democrats' fundraising efforts, the conviction injected new life into his electoral bid - with his campaign announcing that it raised nearly $53m (£41.6m) in just 24 hours after the verdict.

Israeli-American casino billionaire Miriam Adelson is expected to announce a multi-million dollar boost to Mr Trump's campaign this week.

According to US media reports, Mrs Adelson will donate to a political action committee called Preserve America. Political action committees can spend unlimited sums of money backing candidates for elected office.

While it is unclear how much she plans to spend, Politico and other US news outlets have reported that the contribution is expected to exceed the $90m donation to Preserve America by Mrs Adelson and her late husband, Sheldon, ahead of the 2020 election.

Others are likely to follow suit. In the hours following the verdict last week, a number of wealthy billionaires posted messages of support for Mr Trump.

Among them was Silicon Valley investor David Sacks, who posted on X, formerly Twitter, that there "is now only one issue in this election: whether the American people will stand for the USA becoming a Banana Republic".