Local political leaders confident their message will be heard at Trump fundraiser

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Corn fields and oak trees will be the backdrop for an expensive lunch with Donald Trump Tuesday.

The Republican Presidential candidate will be in Tulare for a private fundraiser at noon. For the past couple weeks, James Henderson has been setting the table, literally, for Trump and a few hundred guests in Tulare.

"I don't have the final number but there will be close to 300," Henderson said.

Henderson's the chairman of the Tulare County Republican Party and his wife has been planning Tuesday's fundraiser luncheon.

"There's been lots of volunteer hours that have gone in to set this whole thing up," Henderson said.

Above all else, Henderson is a walnut farmer in Woodlake who is concerned about water, or the lack of it, and he expects that to be the topic of conversation.

"You have some very strong farmers here that are very successful, that are looking at their livelihoods, the employees that they have and all that is going to literally dry up if we don't have some kind of resolution," Trump said.

The last time Trump was in the valley was just three months ago and he spoke of the very same issue inside Fresno's Selland Arena.

"We're going to solve your water problem," Trump said in May. "You have a water problem that is so insane, it is so ridiculous where they're taking the water and shoving it out to sea."

"There's plenty of water but it's not getting down here," Fresno County Republican Party chairman Fred Vanderhoof said.

Vanderhoof said this is a chance for farmers who support Trump to be heard in a much more private setting.

"He's kind of on a listening tour and he wants to hear from the farmers," he said.

There is, however, a price a steep price for admission - $2,700 to sit at the table and $25,000 for a VIP meeting with the Presidential candidate.