Venture capitalist and Republican megadonor Peter Thiel dropped $250,000 into President Donald Trump's joint fundraising committee, according to a new Federal Election Commission filing.
Thiel made the contribution to the Trump Victory Committee in July. It marked the first time since the 2016 presidential election that the conservative philanthropist donated to the organization, which benefits the Republican National Committee and the president's own re-election campaign.
The committee raised just over $2 million from July through late September. It also received big contributions from longtime Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz, who gave $50,000, and United States Steel Corp., which donated $100,000. Trump brought in more than $18 million through his two joint fundraising committees and campaign committee the third quarter.
Representatives for the Trump campaign and Thiel did not immediately return calls for comment.
Trump allies had been concerned that the PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor would be absent in this year's midterms after he was given a cold shoulder by some members of the administration. The latest disclosure comes on the heels of a filing in August that revealed Thiel's first six-figure donation of the midterm election cycle.
Thiel, however, has been a vocal supporter of Trump's since the election. He gave a speech during the Republican convention in 2016 and since then has been all praise of the president.
In a recent interview with political commentator Dave Rubin, Thiel praised Trump's foreign policy and noted how some of the most strident critics are in his own party.
"I think Trump's instincts continue to be, you know, much less in this super power confrontation. If you look at where this opposition to President Trump comes from, the sort of most deranged part of it, is from the neoconservative Republicans," he said.