Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Stephen Ross Was Hesitant To Host Trump Fundraiser After Backlash – But It’s Happening Anyway

New York real estate developer Stephen Ross had second thoughts about his plans to host a fundraiser Friday for President Trump at his Southampton mansion, Axios reported.

Ross, who is Jewish, chairs a company that owns fitness brands Equinox and SoulCycle. When news of the fundraiser came out, customers threatened to cancel their memberships, despite the brands’ statement that they do not support the fundraiser.

The billionaire developer “freaked out” at the reaction, a source told Axios.

Ross describes himself as a “champion of racial equality, inclusion, diversity, public education and environmental sustainability.”

“I have known Donald Trump for 40 years,” Ross said on CNBC on Wednesday, “and while we agree on some issues, we strongly disagree on many others and I have never been bashful about expressing my opinions.”

Trump associates have been encouraging Ross to move forward with the event. Another source summarized the advice: “Stay strong, it’s not going to be that bad. Not that many people are going to boycott the gym.”

Tickets to the event were $100,000 for lunch and a photo with the president, and $250,000 to join a roundtable discussion, according to the invitation, which was acquired by The Washington Post.

Alyssa Fisher is a writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.

In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.

At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.

Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.

Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly. 

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.