‘I’m a Republican, He’s a Republican’: GOP Donor Sheldon Adelson Says He Will Support Trump as Nominee

Las Vegas Sands Corp. Chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson, an influential Republican donor, said he will support Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee in an interview with the New York Times said on Thursday.

“Yes, I’m a Republican, he’s a Republican,” Adelson during the interview at a World Values Network gala in New York. “He’s our nominee. Whoever the nominee would turn out to be, any one of the 17 — he was one of the 17. He won fair and square.”

Las Vegas Sands Corp. CEO Sheldon Adelson speaks at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

In October, Trump had accused Adelson of attempting to make then-GOP primary rival Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) “his perfect little puppet.” But according to the Times, Trump and Adelson met in December and Adelson called the New York billionaire “very charming.”

The timing of Adelson's declaration of support coincides with Trump's recent declaration in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he “won’t be completely self-funding” his general election campaign.