London calling

Happy Thursday and welcome to US Election Countdown. I'm Steff Chávez, the FT's Washington reporter, and today we’re talking about:

• Duelling London fundraisers
• Hunter Biden’s conviction
• The Fed’s interest rate predictions

The money race has gone transatlantic.

Duelling fundraisers for the US presidential candidates took place in London last night, as the campaigns tapped Americans abroad with the help of their British friends [free to read].

While Anna Wintour, the British born editor-in-chief of US Vogue, hosted a fundraiser for Joe Biden, Donald Trump Jr and his fiancée Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host, were elsewhere in the city raising money for Donald Trump.

The Republican event was organised by Holly Valance, a former Australian soap opera star who became a rightwing political activist, her husband, British property mogul Nick Candy, and Duke Buchan, the finance chair of the Republican National Committee who was Trump’s ambassador to Spain.

The ticket price? Up to $100,000.

Among the invitees were Brexit champion and Reform party leader Nigel Farage and Lord Matthew Elliott, former chief executive of Vote Leave, a Brexit campaign group. Ex-UK prime minister Liz Truss was also invited, but a spokesperson said she would not attend.

Co-hosts included former US ambassadors to Portugal, Germany Switzerland and the UK, alongside Cantor Fitzgerald chair Howard Lutnick and food producer Ken LaGrande, according to an invitation seen by the FT. US investor Scott Bessent, who is considered a possible Treasury secretary pick for Trump, also co-hosted.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Republicans had already brought in $2mn through ticket sales and donations (although only US citizens can contribute), according to people close to the organisers.

“It will be the most ever raised for Trump from a UK fundraiser,” they told the FT’s Alex Rogers, Daniel Thomas and Jim Pickard.

Trump’s London event follows big fundraisers in Silicon Valley and New York, as the former president tries to close Biden’s huge campaign cash lead.

Campaign clips: the latest election headlines

• G7 negotiators have reached a deal to use profits from frozen Russian sovereign assets to help Ukraine, while they grapple with a barrage of domestic political difficulties including the upcoming US election.
• The Republican-led House has held US attorney-general Merrick Garland in contempt for failing to hand over recordings of Biden’s interviews with special counsel Robert Hur.
• Larry Kudlow, Trump’s national economic adviser, will interview the former president when he speaks in front of the nation’s top chief executives at the Business Roundtable in Washington. (Axios)
• Hunter Biden’s conviction has undercut a Republican fundraising pitch centred around an acquittal. (NYT)
• The guilty verdict could also take a personal toll on the president. (Washington Post)

Behind the scenes

At a fragile moment for Joe Biden’s re-election campaign, his son Hunter was convicted on Tuesday on federal gun charges. Following days of testimony about Hunter’s drug habits, the verdict marked another tragic turn in the Biden family history.

The decision comes less than two weeks after Donald Trump’s own felony conviction, as both parties try to capitalise on, or minimise, the verdicts. But right now it seems like the convictions aren’t going to sway voters one way or the other. 

As the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics’ Kyle Kondik put it to the FT’s Lauren Fedor and James Politi...Register for the FT to keep reading the newsletter for free.