President Donald Trump’s hands-on approach to fundraising has raised a staggering $800 million for his pet projects in his second term, according to a report.

Trump calls his top fundraiser Meredith O’Rourke near-nightly to find out who has donated to his causes and by how much, The Wall Street Journal says.

The president is said to have instructed O’Rourke, who he has reportedly dubbed “the princess of darkness”, to increase the size of the requests she makes of major corporations, going as high as $50 million.

The Floridian is happy to oblige, the newspaper writes, typically telling potential donors: “This is very important to the president. He’s asked me to call you and ask you for this donation.” Or, more bluntly: “The boss wants this money.”

The WSJ analysis found the strategy to be hugely successful, with Trump raising substantial sums for a range of initiatives including the White House ballroom, presidential library, political action committees and this summer’s 250th anniversary celebrations.

Some of the highest donations received, according to the report, are $50 million from SoftBank for the library, $25 million from Apple for the ballroom and $10 million each from Meta and Microsoft and another $5 million from Amazon for a Trump-aligned PAC.

The WSJ adds that wealthy donors are commonly invited to exclusive candlelit dinners and White House events, where they are often subject to further appeals. One executive cited was reportedly approached for a further $1 million just days after making a similar contribution.

Wall Street analyst Blair Levin said companies now trade notes on what they call “The Trump Transaction Tax.”

“Another way of saying it is simply that we’re replacing the free market with the market for Trump’s affections,” Levin said.

“Trump is shattering all fundraising paradigms in regards to hitting up corporate America for donations. The scope is mind-bogglingly large,” concluded Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian at Rice University.

“We used to talk about the Lincoln bedroom being for sale [under Bill Clinton], but this is just a wholesale money trough that’s totally different.”

The Independent has reached out to the White House for comment.

Danielle Alvarez, an outside spokeswoman for Trump and O’Rourke, said the president is the “most successful fundraiser in modern political history.”

She said Trump intends to use the money he has raised to “help Republicans win big in the midterms, build an enduring political infrastructure and continue advancing innovative private-sector initiatives.”

“One thing has never changed,” Alvarez added. “President Trump can’t be bought.”

However Marc Short, Trump’s former director of legislative affairs and later chief of staff to Mike Pence, said the president had little interest in fundraising when he first ran for the White House in 2016.

At the time, the Republican dismissed PACS as “a scam” and told his supporters: “I am self-funding my campaign and therefore I will not be controlled by the donors, special interests and lobbyists who have corrupted our politics and politicians for far too long.”

Short said the president’s populist, “drain the swamp” messaging of the time was key to his early success, observing: “There definitely wasn’t a corporate shakedown like you see now.”