Robert Bigelow, owner of the extended-stay apartment chain Budget Suites of America in Nevada, Arizona and Texas, revealed today that he gave $1 million to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump for his legal fees and that he’s promised the former President another $20 million — likely aimed at his Save America Super PAC.
Bigelow revealed that he had a two-hour dinner with Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Monday, three days after a jury ordered Trump to pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll for defamation.
Bigelow, who also founded Bigelow Aerospace and funds investigations into extraterrestrial life, said he was not solicited by Trump. Bigelow said it was his sympathy for Trump which motivated the generous donation. Bigelow says he believes Trump — who faces 91 criminal charges across four indictments — has been unfairly targeted.
[Note: The conservative Republican hotelier, a native of Las Vegas, donated $10 million to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which was reportedly the single biggest donation of his successful gubenatorial re-election bid in 2022.]
Bigelow isn’t the only billionaire interested in space, but he has been in the business longer than Jeff Bezos (Blue Origin) and Elon Musk (SpaceX). Bigelow founded Bigelow Aerospace in 1999.
When interviewed on 60 Minutes in 2017, Bigelow was asked if he believes that UFOs have come to Earth. He replied: “There has been and is an existing presence, an ET presence. And I spent millions and millions and millions — I probably spent more as an individual than anybody else in the United States has ever spent on this subject.”
