Melania Trump Cancels Fundraiser After Organizers Fail To Register A Charity

A Florida fundraiser planned for April to feature Melania Trump has been called off after state regulators concluded that the company working with the former first lady to organize the charitable event had not properly registered to solicit contributions. 

Mrs. Trump had announced in late January plans for what she called “Tulips & Topiaries,” a gathering at an undisclosed location in Naples, Florida. It would feature an “elaborate flower garden with tulips” and “delicious hors d’oeuvres alongside tea and bubbles.” Tickets were put on sale for as much as $50,000 for a VIP table, with the money, she said, slated to provide scholarships to children emerging from foster care. 

Erin Moffet, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, told the New York Times the company was not “registered as a professional solicitor or a fund-raising consultant.” She added that any funds raised for the April event will now be donated to a registered Florida charity called GenJustice and said the state’s investigation into Mrs. Trump’s fundraiser was currently closed. 

Last month, Mrs. Trump lashed out at the reporting, which she called “inaccurate, misleading, and outright incorrect,” and blamed the press for looking into whether the fundraiser she was set to appear at was being organized according to Florida law. 

“The media has created a narrative whereby I am trying to act in an illegal or unethical manner. That portrayal is simply untrue and adversely affects the children I hope to support,” she said, adding that anyone who, in her words, “attacks” her initiatives of “create the appearance of impropriety” were “quite literally dream killers.” 

The former first lady claimed that the event was not canceled but was merely postponed to “a future date.” She also said that she was a mere participant in the event and not an organizer.