Donald Trump, who has spent much of his second presidential term dismantling LGBTQ+ rights, allegedly once explained his support for queer people in the most transactional way possible.
According to a New York Times feature on “Donald Trump’s Big Gay Government,” an unnamed associate recalls Trump saying of marriage equality in the run-up to his first presidential bid:
“I love the gays. They pay the most for the weddings.”
Courting gay Republicans at Mar-a-Lago
Trump has long had a complicated relationship with LGBTQ+ conservatives.
- In 2024, he allowed a same-sex wedding to take place at his private Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, between John Sullivan, then vice chair of the Tennessee Log Cabin Republicans, and his husband, Dan Medora. Sullivan praised the venue as “inclusive since day one.”
- In 2022, Trump hosted the Log Cabin Republicans’ Spirit of Lincoln gala at Mar-a-Lago, telling attendees: “I’m fighting hard for the gay community.”
These gestures stood in stark contrast with his hardline rhetoric and policies targeting queer and trans Americans both during his campaigns and in office.
Anti-LGBTQ+ record
Despite these occasional overtures, Trump’s second term has been marked by sweeping rollbacks:
- Erased LGBTQ+ resources from federal websites.
- Signed an order declaring the U.S. would “only recognise the two sexes assigned at birth.”
- Reimposed a trans military ban.
- Restricted gender-affirming healthcare for anyone under 19.
- Oversaw the dismantling of DEI initiatives across government and the military, mirroring wider corporate retreats at companies like Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson, and Jack Daniels.
- Froze funding at USAID, leading to cuts in global HIV prevention initiatives — rollbacks that experts warn could drive infection rates up by more than 10 million by 2030 in the U.S. and allied nations.
A transactional view
For LGBTQ+ Republicans, Trump’s words and actions illustrate a tension: he occasionally praises queer people when it suits him, but his policies overwhelmingly reflect the demands of a right-wing base hostile to inclusion.
As one observer told the Times, his quip about weddings captures his outlook perfectly — not rooted in equality, but in profit.
