Ryan huddles with GOP donors [View all]

[Miles Archer]

http://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/paul-ryan-mega-donors-donald-trump-220948

PALM BEACH, Fla. ― House Speaker Paul Ryan met Thursday night at a pricey French restaurant here with some of the Party’s biggest donors to assess a political landscape dominated by one vexing question: what to do about Donald Trump.
The dinner was a highlight of a secretive two-day conclave, convened under heavy security by a donor group headed by New York hedge fund manager Paul Singer, that is being viewed as a pivotal moment for the big-money effort to block Trump from the Republican presidential nomination.
Sources familiar with the gathering said it was not intended to rally a last-ditch anti-Trump cabal, and that, in fact, there was a diverse array of opinion represented among the donors in attendance. Some seemed open to supporting Trump if he wins the nomination, while others are backing his remaining rivals Ted Cruz and John Kasich.
But many of the two dozen or so donors in attendance ― including Singer and Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts ― have given millions to super PACs devoted to attacking Trump or supporting his now-vanquished rivals, including Marco Rubio, Scott Walker and Jeb Bush. Now, however, it’s becoming increasingly likely that efforts to derail Trump by defeating him in primaries and caucuses are futile.