Donald Trump Jr. is being paid $100,000 to participate in a Texas public university speaking series sponsored by the company of a major Republican donor – a fee that is as much as double what President Trump’s eldest son appeared to have sought on the lecture circuit before this year.

In July, Trump Jr. signed a contract with the University of North Texas agreeing to give a half-hour speech and participate in a 30-minute question-and-answer session in October in exchange for a $100,000 stipend, according to documents first obtained by the North Texas Daily, the student newspaper. The university provided a copy of the contract to The Washington Post.

Donald Trump Jr.'s speech at the University of North Texas, hosted by the firm of a major Republican donor, will raise scholarship money. Associated Press/Richard Drew

Trump Jr. was invited by organizers of the UNT Kuehne Speaker Series, whose top sponsor this year is a corporate tax services firm headed by G. Brint Ryan, a UNT alum and well-connected Republican donor in Dallas who advised President Trump on tax policy during the campaign.

In an interview, Ryan said that the series is paid for by private donations, not public funds, adding that Trump Jr.’s appearance will help raise money for National Merit Scholarships for UNT students.

“I don’t think we’ve paid that much before,” Ryan said of Trump Jr.’s stipend. But he said he did not have any qualms about the amount, noting that the series hopes to draw as many as 2,000 paying guests to hear the president’s son on Oct. 24 at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas – the home of the Dallas Cowboys.

“The fee is not important – what’s important is the net result,” he said. “This is not a deal to sponsor Donald Trump Jr. This is an effort to raise as much money as possible for scholarships.”

“If Chelsea Clinton wants to come next time, that’s great,” Ryan added.

Tickets for the speaking series are only available through table sponsorship, ranging from $5,000 to $100,000, according to the event’s website. As a presenting sponsor, Ryan’s tax services company, Ryan LLC, paid at least $100,000 to support the series.

Kelley Reese, a spokeswoman for UNT, said the speaking series has raised $1.65 million for scholarships since it began in 2013, with the first awards expected to go out this year to five students.

The goal of the series is to present “timely and stimulating perspectives on our world as it pertains to national security, our economy, and topics that are of interest to the university’s many and varied communities,” she said in a statement.

Trump Jr. did not respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman said that the 39-year-old is “a popular public speaker who has been participating in speaking engagements domestically and internationally for over a decade. Additionally, this particular speech has been in the works for many months.”

Earlier this year, he served as the commencement speaker for American University in Dubai for an undisclosed sum.

The fee for Trump Jr.’s UNT speech appears to be twice as much as he charged to give paid speeches before his father became president.

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