Trump, Kasich to Skip RJC Summit in Vegas

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump and Ohio Governor John Kasich will be skipping the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Spring Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas this weekend, Politico reported on Monday.

According to the report, Trump’s campaign informed the RJC of the decision.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz will be the only Republican presidential candidate to address the weekend confab during the confab at the Sheldon Adelson-owned Venetian Resort in Las Vegas. Governors Scott Walker, Tim Scott, Charlie Baker, Greg Abbott, as well as Senator Ron Johnson and Congressman Lee Zeldin will also attend.

The entire summit is closed to press other than Cruz’s speech on Saturday.

The RJC’s Vegas gatherings have emerged as key stops on the GOP presidential donor-courting circuit. Adelson did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 Republican primaries. Cruz and former Florida Senator Marco Rubio were considered favorites in what has been dubbed by the media as the ‘Adelson primary.’

In February, Adelson signaled he was okay with supporting Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president in 2016. “Trump is a businessman. I am a businessman. He employs a lot of people. I employed 50,000 people. Why not?” Adelson said during a gala honoring former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on February 27 at the same venue.

However, prominent members of the RJC’s board are supporting Ted Cruz or are funding efforts to stop Trump. RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks said last month, “The long-standing policy is that when there’s an ongoing primary, we are not going to weigh in and try to pick and choose favorites, or try and put our thumb on the scale and help one candidate or hurt another.”