Nobody needs as much money right now as Donald Trump – but at the moment, the fundraising machinery is stuttering. In short: Trump is running out of donors.
The former president, who is once again running for the White House, has 200,000 fewer donors in this election campaign than in the last, as reported by the Financial Times after analyzing the financial data.
Trump’s campaign team collected a total of $189 million last year. His rival in the 2024 election duel, President Joe Biden, managed $202 million. Alarm bells are ringing among Trump’s strategists. Trump is more dependent than Biden on smaller donors (donations of less than $200) – and this is where there is the biggest downward trend.
Money is a critical factor in this year’s election duel, with experts expecting the most expensive election campaign ever (even more than the total of $1.77 billion spent by Biden and Trump in 2020). Trump will have to cover his exorbitant legal costs, which swallowed up $50 million last year alone.
And after two serious court defeats in New York, he has just been ordered to pay fines totaling more than half a billion dollar.
A closer look at the data reveals the growing stress of being able to service bonds. Trump’s political committee ‘Save America’ has just informed the US Electoral Commission that only $8,508 were collected in January – with expenses of $3.9 million. This was mainly used to pay the fees of Trump’s expensive star lawyers, such as the brash advocate Alina Habba. Another indication that things are getting tighter financially: Millions are increasingly being shifted back and forth between various Trump entities.
The Republican Party has also fallen behind the Democrats: The Republican National Committee (RNC) raised $11.6 million in January and has $8.7 million in the bank. Biden’s party raised $17.4 million and has a balance of $24 million – far more than the conservatives.
The personal financial situation will also be bitter for Trump himself. The countdown is ticking after the verdict in the fraud case against the Trump Organization real estate company: in around four weeks, Trump must either transfer the entire fine of more than $450 million (including interest) to an escrow account. Or provide credible evidence with bonds and loans that he can raise the sum if the judgment is upheld in the expected appeal proceedings.
Should Trump be unable to raise the resources, the plaintiff in the case, public prosecutor Letitia James, already has plans: she has hinted that one of Trump’s more well-known properties in Manhattan, the 40 Wall Street skyscraper, could be sold off in a distress sale. At least she is not (yet) eyeing Trump Tower: because then Trump could be evicted from his penthouse.
