'The numbers aren’t good': Financially battered Trump aims to ramp up fundraising

Former President Donald Trump in Las Vegas in October 2023 (Gage Skidmore)

Former President Donald Trump has had a range of financial problems, from massive legal bills to fines and penalties to inadequate campaign funds. Axios, on February 20, reported that President Joe Biden's reelection campaign had "raised $42 million in January" and enjoyed a "vast fundraising advantage over Trump and the (Republican National Committee)."

But according to The Bulwark's Marc A. Caputo, Trump is making a concerted effort to ramp up his fundraising.

"For years, Donald Trump's campaign staff struggled to get him to make donor calls and take fundraising seriously," Caputo explains in an article published on February 27. "But that was before Trump faced an incumbent president and a primary opponent who was outraising him. It was before he was hit with nearly $540 million in civil fines against him and his family business in two New York cases. And it was before his political committee shelled out about $50 million in legal bills stemming from those civil cases, as well as the four criminal indictments he faces."

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Caputo reports that Trump is "making fundraising a priority" by: (1) "hosting more traditional events and making donor calls," (2) "quietly raising money for the Republican National Committee's 'nominee fund,'" and (3) "beefing up his online and digital fundraising staff."

A GOP source, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told The Bulwark, "He's much more engaged than I’ve ever seen him at this, and that's because he has to be. The numbers right now aren't good, but we should raise a billion dollars or $900 million at this pace now. We'll have enough."

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The Bulwark's full report is available at this link.

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