{"id":217523,"date":"2026-03-24T03:27:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:27:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/217523\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T03:27:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T03:27:15","slug":"jd-vance-visits-texas-for-high-dollar-rnc-fundraisers-ahead-of-expected-presidential-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/217523\/","title":{"rendered":"JD Vance visits Texas for high-dollar RNC fundraisers ahead of expected presidential run"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ViceVice President JD Vance is likely to cause traffic delays and flight restrictions as he visits Austin today and tomorrow. Credit: Shutterstock \/ FotoField<\/p>\n

U.S. Vice President JD Vance is visiting Texas this week for high-dollar fundraisers ahead of of an expected 2028 presidential run.<\/p>\n

The Republican National Convention fundraisers, where attendance runs $100,000, will take place in Austin and Dallas, and they\u2019re being hosted by some of the party\u2019s deepest-pocketed donors, including Austin billionaire and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, according to the Houston Chronicle<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The White House declined to comment on Vance\u2019s trip to the Chronicle. <\/p>\n

Lonsdale\u2019s Palantir is a mass-surveillance<\/a> and data-integration company powering a push toward predictive policing in the United States. The venture has also faced recent criticism for using its AI software to enable bombing targets in Gaza<\/a> and tracking immigrants<\/a>\u2018 movements domestically.<\/p>\n

Vance has deep ties to Palantir, whose co-founder Peter Thiel has served as a mentor and major political donor for Vance and helped launch his political career. Thiel, a billionaire MAGA backer, has drawn controversy<\/a> by claiming freedom and democracy are incompatible and championing a movement toward techno-authoritarianism. <\/p>\n

Other than Lonsdale, hosts of this week\u2019s RNC fundraisers in Texas include Tommy Hicks Jr., a Dallas investor and former co-chair of the RNC;\u00a0Ray Washburne, a Dallas businessman and owner of restaurant chain Mi Cocina; and Chris Buskirk, a venture capitalist who employs Donald Trump Jr., the Houston Chronicle reports. <\/p>\n

Also hosting is Damon Hininger, the former CEO of the prison company CoreCivic,\u00a0which runs immigrant detention centers in Texas including Dilley\u2019s South Texas ICE Processing Center, formerly the South Texas Family Residential Center. <\/p>\n

Supporters must pay $250,000 for the distinction of hosting a fundraiser, according to the Chronicle. <\/p>\n

Austin city officials warned residents to\u00a0expect road closures between the airport\u00a0<\/a>and downtown Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Texas Democrats also said the visit is likely to add further delays at the Austin Bergstrom Airport. The partial government shutdown is already extending lines and wait times due to understaffing within TSA while the agency\u2019s workers go without pay.<\/p>\n

Further, the Federal Aviation Authority also announced\u00a0<\/a>flight restrictions over Austin between 8:45 p.m. Monday evening and 10 p.m. Tuesday due to security concerns while the Vice President visits. <\/p>\n

Vance is the favored frontrunner in the 2028 Republican primary for president. After stops in Texas, he\u2019s expected at another fundraiser in Nashville, according to the Chronicle. <\/p>\n

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