--- title: Donald Trump Corporate Advisors Meet In Cleveland description: The meeting coincided with the Republican National Convention canonical: https://time.com/4413148/republican-convention-donald-trump-corporate-donors/ author: Jay Newton-Small article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-19T17:00:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T05:53:42.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Corporate Advisors Meet In Cleveland og:description: During the Republican convention. og:url: https://time.com/4413148/republican-convention-donald-trump-corporate-donors/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta65b5e206371e057/69889c8af887dc765ee96ace/donald-trump-donors.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Donald Trump speaks to colleagues outside an elevator bank on July 18, 2016 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Corporate Advisors Meet In Cleveland twitter:description: During the Republican convention. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta65b5e206371e057/69889c8af887dc765ee96ace/donald-trump-donors.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Corporate Advisors Meet In Cleveland > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=327cf0d6-454c-4887-b8d7-c3f67915427d&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Trump's Top Pastor [Watch (HLS stream): Trump's Top Pastor](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/A9Hi3DBO.m3u8) (8:46)  _Published 2016-07-18. One of the most visible pastors supporting Donald Trump comes from the most unlikely of places: the small town of Easley, South Carolina. Trump’s candidacy has thrust televangelist Mark Burns into the national political spotlight for the first time._  by [Jay Newton-Small / Cleveland](https://time.com/author/jay-newton-small/)  ## Jay Newton-Small / Cleveland Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:53 AM UTCPublished: Jul 19, 2016 5:00 PM UTC  by [Jay Newton-Small / Cleveland](https://time.com/author/jay-newton-small/)  ## Jay Newton-Small / Cleveland Updated: Dec 13, 2023 5:53 AM UTCPublished: Jul 19, 2016 5:00 PM UTC **Correction appended, July 19, 2016** On a bright sunny Tuesday morning, the Trump Leadership Council gathered at [FirstEnergy](http://fortune.com/fortune500/firstenergy-188/) Stadium for their second official meeting. The group of 40 CEOs and top executives had flown to Cleveland to attend the Republican National Convention. This was the second meeting of the council. The first convening happened a few weeks ago with the nominee presumptive at Trump Tower in New York. The companies represented were there to advise Trump on 10 business sectors, such as transportation and healthcare and energy. The group does not solicit or require donations for the campaign, according to the group’s founding documents. But three people who attended said they understood there was an expectation that donations be made. These three attendees at the event said they had expected Trump to attend. A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign and an organizer of the leadership group both said the event never on his schedule. Members of the group mingled with Republican members of Congress around breakfast tables set up on one of the stadium’s concourses. The Republican representatives addressed the group. Rep. Tom Price from Georgia mentioned the [plagiarism scandal over Trump’s wife Melania’s speech](http://time.com/4412175/republican-convention-melania-trump-michelle-obama/) the evening before. Price blamed the liberal media, who he said, had made the whole thing up, according to people present. After the talk, the group was given a chance to go out onto the football field, where the Cleveland Browns play, to take pictures before they left. Trump [ended May with just $1.3 million](http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-score/2016/06/trump-campaign-has-only-13-million-in-cash-to-clintons-425-million-214924) cash on hand, alarming party insiders as that was an amount more suited to a congressional race, not a presidential bid. He improved in June, [raising $51 million](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/donald-trump-fundraising-june-225171), thought still fell short of Hillary Clinton’s haul of $68.5 million in the same period. His campaign, which did not answer repeated attempts for comment on the event, has argued that the billionaire can self fund. But Trump himself has said he would seek donations for the general election, which could cost well over $1 billion. _With reporting from Haley Sweetland Edwards in Cleveland_ **Correction**: The original version of this story mischaracterized the event, which was a meeting of corporate advisors. After the story was published, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign and an organizer of the group told TIME that the candidate was never scheduled to attend the meeting. The Trump Leadership Council explicitly states in internal documents for its members that there is no expectation that they make political donations to Trump or the convention. The story also incorrectly described the attendees of the event and the championship record of the Cleveland Browns. ## Transcript What's your relationship like with Mr Trump? Faster. [ LAUGH ] Good. Mr Trump said, you know you're speaking at the RNC right? We said, what are you serious? He said I want you to do what you always do. Just do what you do. And so here we go, speaking time, I see. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Good morning. Good morning, Daniel, how are you? Good morning. [ LAUGH ] Good morning, Miss Maggie. Absolutely, yes, people are shocked That I don't come from this major, major platform of a location of New York City, or California, but a small town right here in Easley, South Carolina. But that's the heartbeat of this country, and for me, it all goes back to Mr Trump. How much time? Two minutes, then we come back for one song. [ MUSIC ] [ APPLAUSE ] [ MUSIC ] So if you need a miracle in your life I want you to write that miracle down on your envelope. We fully believe in writing all over our envelopes. Once you have your offering ready I want you to raise it up as high as you can get it. Let's get on chairs and stuff they want is close to the Lord as possible Possible, and throw it in there. He is a billionaire from New York City, he could have taken anybody under his wing. There is no black person, there is no white person, there is no yellow person, there is no red person, there is only green people. [ BLANK_AUDIO ] Greed is money. It is almost spiritual in a sense, it is bigger than just money right? I meant it is really about Donald Trump has showed over and over and over again how he's willing to give. People, the least likely people in opportunity to prove themselves. For someone like Donald Trump to say hey, your heart is right, your spirit is right. Come follow me. That speaks volumes. When God wants to bless you, he brings a person. He reveals a person. He blesses you with the person in your life. But when he wants to protect you. I teach this all the time, that I don't want a leader who just presents to me their resume because the resume has all your good stuff on there. I want a leader who will lead me who has a record. You know, they have a jail record. They have a record that says I've messed up, I've messed up, I've messed up. But I overcame, overcame, overcame. Is that what Mr. Trump has done? Without question. Without question he exudes the message of grace. That he was once blind, but now he sees. He was once pro- choice but now he is pro- life, after receiving the information. He's been married three times but he's proven to be a powerfully effective father. He's willing to admit his mistakes, but celebrate his children, and when I see him I see the message of grace. I remember when we were in Atlanta and there's a press release there and so many of us black pastors were with him, and I was right beside him. I said lord this may be the very last time I This close to Donald Trump, so whatever financial anointed on his life [ LAUGH ] let him fall upon my life, so I can teach other people. I don't know why me, he chose me. I don't know why out of all of the 50, 60- some odd leaders that were there, why am I the one that was being asked to come on television. Alright, let's go. Let's go. Let's go eat. Here are the keys. Thank you. We go out to eat every Sunday. I'm going to show you who my children are. Well first this is my mother, Joeda. This is my mother. The fabulous woman that burst the fabulous me, and then you have my youngest baby Samara, Samara- Interracial marriage as an interracial family is just so vital. This is my youngest and they are ten. The key to future of our country- Mark is 14. In our family, our children are getting an even greater education On how not to see color. And then where's Diamond? Diamond is next, she's 18. [ LAUGH ] With her fabulous pink hair and fabulous pink lipstick. And then our oldest is Jordan, and she will be 20 in a few days. I know I'm not old enough to have a 20 year old. Funeral but I do. I want to bring you to this stop here and I don't know if they still have the sign up front but we didn't want to really come here because they have the waiting rebel flag but then we saw the Trump sign And so maybe this would be good so we walked in and you can immediately tell that they had their eyes on us, that they were suspicious of us. We were together. And they didn't like that at all. We found something that we wanted and they basically said, that's not for sale. Yeah, that's not for sale When it was clearly for sale. And I didn't tell them I was a [ UNKNOWN ] for Trump, I didn't tell them I traveled on the campaign. I didn't say any of that, I simply said that's the reason right now why so many blacks and whites, cuz there are whites who won't support Mr. Trump because they think he's racist. The majority of the world thinks that the Trump supporter is this, I'm not a champion of Black people. That's why I don't compare myself to Dr. King. He was a champion of the African American communities. It frustrates me basically that the Black community, who, one of the minority groups that suffer the most, are consistently voting For the same people that positioned them to be there. Donald Trump really is the best solution for all minorities that is at the bottom of the tow pole. You know, they're disappointed with the president's comments of, you know, Black Lives Matter and Police Lives Matter. There wouldn't be a hash tag police lives matter if there wasn't a hash tag black lives matter. It seems like black lives only matter when a black life is killed by a white cop. Well, we are Heading to the airport. Heading to catch a flight to New York city. To appear tonight on Megyn Kelly to discuss what's taking place in this country in this place right now. Hopefully we won't be in a combative scenario, but knowing [ LAUGH ] They want to get us to communicate and argue. They want good TV. Go ahead, Pastor Mark Burns, in the back row. Pastor Mark Burns. People want to assassinate an officer. That is why they're out there. [ CROSSTALK ] Down the line, go ahead, Pastor Mark Burns, in the grey sir. Fear factor. It's just that they're scared. They're afraid because in today's society, cops are walking on eggshells because they don't want to show up on the next cell phone video and be automatically condemned before facts are even proven. [ CROSSTALK ] I truly feel appointed for such a time as this. I feel just like Ester did when Mordecai came to her and said you need to have the ear to the king. You have to help protect our people. So, she can position herself to be the voice piece of God, and be the influencing of the king's ear. What kinds of things are you speaking into the king's ear? Just be kind, be loving. [ MUSIC ] And your hope for November? [ LAUGH ] My hope for November, Donald Trump is, we're going to the White House. And I'm going to give the inaugural prayer, that's what I'm gonna do. I'm claiming it all, you know we're going all the way. 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