Hours after a New York judge ordered Mr. Trump to pay a $454 million fine, the former president held a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago.
At the event at Mar-a-Lago resort, Florida on February 16, the biggest sponsors received hats printed with the words Make America Great Again (MAGA). They drank Trump Meritage wine and listened to former president Donald Trump criticize the new court ruling.
Part of the proceeds from this event were used to pay Mr. Trump’s lawyers. That evening, supporters of the former president saw a new ad on Facebook with a link to a donation page and the statement “they’re not after me, they’re after you.”
“He’s a fighter,” said Bryan Eure, an insurance broker who attended the Mar-a-Lago fundraiser. “It’s not a coincidence that all the trials took place at the same time. It’s ridiculous.”
Mr. Trump’s 2024 election campaign is unlike before. Donations are not only intended to help him return to the White House, but some are also intended to protect him from legal trouble.
Mr. Trump has turned four prosecutions against him into fundraising tools. The former president sold T-shirts with photos of his prison record and helped pro-Trump groups raise about $190 million in 2023. But these groups also spent more than $50 million on Trump’s legal fees. grandfather.
Former President Donald Trump spoke in Palm Beach, Florida on March 5. Image: AP
Despite leading President Joe Biden in most public opinion surveys, Trump’s campaign is lagging behind his Democratic opponent’s fundraising efforts. Groups supporting Mr. Biden enter 2024 with about $118 million in accounts, while Mr. Trump has $66 million. The difference of 52 million USD is equal to the legal fees spent by groups supporting Mr. Trump.
As of the end of February, Mr. Biden’s campaign team and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) raised twice as much money as Mr. Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC). Future Forward, a political action committee (PAC) supporting Mr. Biden, has ordered more than $130 million in advertising this year, according to AdImpact. Meanwhile, Maga Inc, a super PAC supporting Trump, just spent $6.5 million ordering advertising.
Trump has sold tennis shoes and the suit he wore when he took photos of prison records in an effort to find money to pay the fine for the New York lawsuit and other civil lawsuit appeals. During Easter, he urged his supporters to buy a “patriotic” version of the Bible for nearly $60.
In 2020, Mr. Biden was more successful in fundraising than Mr. Trump and became the first presidential candidate in US history to raise more than a billion USD from donors. The 2024 rematch could be even more costly.
“Once you fall behind in the fundraising race, it becomes like a dark cloud overshadowing your campaign,” said veteran Republican strategist Scott Reed, who now works for super PACs. supporting Mr. Mike Pence, said.
The lack of money could also affect the way Mr. Trump approaches the election. He is now trying to attract two different groups of donors, with opposing views on how to conduct the campaign and the future of his administration.
The former president has a loyal group of associates and donors who support MAGA’s claims. This group includes hundreds of thousands of small donors, always excited by Mr. Trump’s attacks on elites and protecting those involved in the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.
Mr. Trump is making “the greatest political comeback in history,” said Omeed Malik, a media investor who has donated millions of dollars to the former president this year.
On the other hand, Mr. Trump’s campaign also seeks traditional Republican donors, often concentrated in the financial center of New York. Many of them fear their donations could be used for Trump’s legal bills and do not appear to support the former president’s plan to impose a 10% tariff on all imports.
Billionaires Ken Griffin, Stanley Druckenmiller, Paul Singer and Warren Stephens each spent a total of more than $13 million to help Nikki Haley in the primary elections. Billionaire Jeff Yass spent about $5 million on candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, while Stephen Schwarzman spent $2 million on a super PAC supporting candidate Chris Christie. All of these candidates have stopped running.
Most of them are considering options such as supporting Mr. Trump, turning to Mr. Biden, supporting a third party or staying out. The decision of top Republican donors will indicate whether they believe Mr. Trump will win or not.
Investor John Paulson is one of the traditional Republican donors that Mr. Trump can rely on. Paulson plans to hold a fundraiser for the former president in Palm Beach, Florida, hoping to raise $33 million.
Paulson said he expects that if re-elected, Trump will reduce the US trade deficit, restore global manufacturing competitiveness, support the domestic energy industry and ensure border security.
The Republican Party is also in dire need of new funding sources. The RNC had only $11 million in its account as of the end of February, while the DNC had up to $26 million. Mr. Trump’s small army of donors also seems to have decreased significantly compared to the previous election. He enters the 2024 election year with about 200,000 fewer donors than in 2019.
Even Mr. Trump’s lawyers are making efforts to raise funds. Chris Kise, Trump’s attorney in the New York case, co-hosted the fundraiser with two of his firm’s partners in Miami.
Mr. Trump has also attracted a number of major donors. Four days after the verdict in New York, he went to the private home of businessman Wallace Cheves in South Carolina and called for a donation of $7 million.
Former President Donald Trump (center) with a group of core assistants in Des Moines, Iowa, January 15. Photo: Reuters
Among traditional Republican donors, Mr. Trump also placed his hopes on Oklahoma oil tycoon Harold Hamm and casino tycoon Miriam Adelson, who remained neutral in the primary election.
In addition, he also sought to attract new billionaires such as Tim Mellon, two Texas oil tycoons Kelcy Warren and Tim Dunn, Florida scientist Trish Duggan, World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon, and many other financiers. other aid.
Harold Hamm said Mr. Biden’s fundraising advantage does not help the election much. “We have seen that money does not benefit some candidates. People do not trust him,” Hamm said.
One of the big questions facing Mr. Trump’s campaign team is whether they can attract those who funded the former president’s opponents in the Republican primary.
Many donors turned to Trump when their original candidate dropped out of the race. Robert Bigelow, a Las Vegas real estate developer, was once a top donor to Governor Ron DeSantis, but later turned his back on Trump, saying he wanted someone with a strong stance for president.
In January, Bigelow said he had dinner with Mr. Trump at Mar-a-Lago, pledging $1 million for legal costs and $20 million for his re-election effort this year.
Bigelow will host a fundraising event for Trump this weekend. The event also had the presence of CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald Howard Lutnick, former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, and former US ambassadors under Trump to the UK, Spain, and France.
After announcing their suspension of the election, candidates DeSantis, Tim Scott, Doug Burgum and Ramaswamy all turned to support Mr. Trump. Former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said they do not support Trump, while Ms. Haley has not announced her choice.
Supporters wait to attend Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Sioux Center, Iowa on January 5. Image: AFP
During the primaries, Mr. Trump threatened Ms. Haley’s donors, but now he wants to gain their support. Art Pope, president of a retail chain in North Carolina and a former donor to Mrs. Haley, said he would never vote for President Biden, but is undecided about Trump.
“It depends on whether he welcomes traditional conservatives and listens to their opinions on issues of disagreement,” he said.
Liz Uihlein, a billionaire in the packaging and shipping industry, donated more than $3 million to candidate DeSantis, but has no intention of supporting Trump after the Florida Governor stopped running.
“There are a lot of things that make people like Trump, but no one can control his bad qualities,” Uihlein said.