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Former President Donald Trump’s fundraising slowed in the first half of 2022, falling below $50 million in a six-month period for the first time since he left the White House 18 months ago.
A fundraising committee that funnels money to his various political groups raised $17 million in the second quarter of this year, according to a new federal filing. That brings the commission’s revenue to at least $36 million so far this year.
The amount does not include new direct contributions to Trump’s Save America PAC, which will not be disclosed until later this month and have totaled up to $20,000 in recent months. The PAC received $23,409 this quarter through WinRed, which processes online transactions for Republican candidates and committees.
The former president’s income has been falling as his time in the White House recedes further into the past. In the same six-month period last year, Trump collected more than $56 million in online donations, and then raised about $51 million from July to December 2021.
The latest filing puts Trump behind that of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a possible contender for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024. DeSantis, who has delighted conservatives nationally with his even-handed approach to the coronavirus pandemic, has garnered about 45 million dollars in the first six months of the year, according to government filings.
Small-dollar online donations have declined in the Republican Party, said people familiar with the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party data, blaming the trend on donors having less disposable income due to inflation and their fatigue with relentless fundraising appeals. Many Democratic incumbents in tight Senate races reported record gains in the second quarter, including Georgia Sen. Raphael G. Warnock, who brought in $17 million compared to GOP challenger Herschel Walker’s $3.6 million, and Sen. Nevada Catherine Cortez Masto, who raised $7.5 million compared to GOP challenger Adam Laxalt’s $2.8 million.
The new data offers fresh evidence of the financial muscle Trump could put behind his third bid for the presidency as he discerns allies about a possible announcement. That dynamic could affect the timing of an eventual campaign announcement as Republicans weigh whether he clears the field and how his 2024 plans could change this year’s midterms.
Trump and DeSantis are their party’s dominant fundraisers, with Trump maintaining a reservoir of support from small donors and DeSantis winning the support of some of the GOP’s most generous mega-donors, most notably hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, who recently said he would move his company Citadel from Chicago to Miami. DeSantis is holding a trio of fundraisers in Utah next week. He is seeking $25,000 from couples attending a reception in Salt Lake City hosted by, among others, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes and developer Scott S. Keller, according to invitations obtained by The Washington Post.
The comparison is imperfect. DeSantis is raising money for a committee that can accept unlimited donations, while donors can give only $10,000 a year to Trump’s joint fundraiser. DeSantis also has an ongoing fundraising race — he’s up for re-election this fall. So is Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), another possible contender for his party’s presidential nomination in 2024. He has raised $29 million in the first six months of the year, his campaign said.
But Trump is unlikely to choose to “hang up his hat and sail off into the sunset,” as the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, advised him this week to do. Instead, he has been criss-crossing the country looking for endorsements, repeating his debunked claims of election fraud and hinting at a third presidential run. He recently told supporters in Las Vegas that he “ran twice and won twice and might have to do it a third time.”
“Not only is he raising money at an unprecedented rate, but he is investing in America First candidates and continuing to grow the MAGA movement through 2022 and beyond,” Taylor Budovitch, a Trump spokesman, said in response to the new filings on Friday.
The latest fundraising numbers show his online appeals continue to resonate with his base, even as House investigators probing the Jan. 6 Capitol attack accuse him of defrauding supporters with promises of a nonexistent challenge fund of electoral fraud.
“Having campaigned and raised funds for President Trump since 2015, there has never been a stronger support and interest in him than there is today,” said Ed McMullen, Trump’s ambassador to Switzerland, who also served as director of the South Carolina during the 2016 presidential campaign. “President Trump’s popularity and fundraising continues to grow and thrive at every level.”
Trump’s name and image dominate fundraising appeals for other GOP candidates and party committees, a sign of his enduring appeal to the party base. Trump has recently made attempts to rein in other entities’ attempts to raise funds off his tail, and tensions will only intensify if and when Trump formally announces his candidacy.
“The entire fundraising apparatus in the Republican Party revolves around President Trump,” said Caroline Rehn, a pro-Trump GOP fundraiser who helped organize the Jan. 6, 2021, rally. “Candidates and party committees rely on the name of President Trump for his low-dollar fundraising efforts, and when it comes to big-dollar fundraising, President Trump has selflessly spent the last two years raising millions of dollars for America First candidates and organizations. including flagship fundraising events for every major Republican committee.”
Trump has largely raised contributions from the PAC, but a person familiar with the group, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe its financial details, said its spending jumped in June. The increase stems from legal bills stemming from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, more transfers to support other candidates and committees and higher costs for online fundraising, the person said. The Save America PAC ended June with $112 million, the person said, which would be a net gain of about $11 million over the previous month.
Save America PAC’s June report to the FEC is due July 20. Earlier filings show the group has splashed out about $6 million in recent months to boost Trump’s preferred candidates in the Pennsylvania Senate primary and the Georgia gubernatorial primary. He prevailed in Pennsylvania, successfully lifting celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz over a crowded field, but failed to unseat incumbent Governor Brian Kemp in Georgia.
The committee directed $75,000 in May to the law firm of an attorney representing Cleta Mitchell, a pro-Trump attorney who advised it on efforts to overturn the election results. Attorney John P. Rowley did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump’s PAC has also continued to spend money at his properties, directing about $30,000 in recent months to the Trump Hotel Collection.
There are no express restrictions on personal use of funds raised by leadership PACs. Such committees, in addition to promoting like-minded candidates, can be used to pay advisors, cover travel expenses, and cover legal bills, among other expenses.
One limitation, campaign finance law experts said, is that the people behind such PACs cannot use the money to help their own future campaigns. Travel and other expenses related to a candidate’s political activities are subject to contribution limits once a candidate has declared for office, these experts said.
Even funneling those funds to a super PAC making independent expenditures to promote a candidate is likely to draw complaints if the money “creates the super PAC or is the majority of the money funding the super PAC,” said Charles Spees, a Republican election lawyer.
Trump’s committee has reaped its dividends as its fundraising practices come under scrutiny from a special House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Amanda Wick, a committee investigator, highlighted in a hearing last month how Trump and his allies raised $250 million in the weeks after the election by inundating supporters with fundraising emails touting an “Official Election Defense Fund,” even though no such fund exists.
“Not only was there the big lie,” said Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.). “There was the grand theft.”
A Trump spokesman did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations.
Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor focused on securities and commodities fraud, said the Justice Department was unlikely to bring charges related to the fundraising practices highlighted by the commission. Prosecutors will face numerous challenges, he said, including proving that solicitors intended to defraud and countering a possible defense that donors would have included regardless of the content of the complaint.
Such appeals continue. Four emails sent in May by Trump’s PAC, for example, asked donors to contribute to “Protect Our Election Fund.”
One line for subject: “Signal for future election fraud.”
He implored supporters: Please contribute at least $45 or more NOW to our Election Defense Fund.”
Josh Dawsey, Dylan Friedman, Anu Narayanswamy and Chris Zubak-Skees contributed to this report.
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