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Trump’s money problems

April 02, 2024
John Haltiwanger
​FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at one of his properties after attending a hearing in his criminal court case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in New York City, U.S., March 25, 2024.
FILE PHOTO: Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a press conference at one of his properties after attending a hearing in his criminal court case on charges stemming from hush money paid to a porn star in New York City, U.S., March 25, 2024.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

Bible salesman and former US President Donald Trump on Monday posted a $175 million bond in his New York civil fraud case, wriggling himself out of a tricky financial situation — for now, at least.

But with Trump’s legal woes far from over, a big question looms over his 2024 campaign: Where is he going to find more money? Recent polling shows Trump with a narrow lead over President Joe Biden. But when it comes to campaign fundraising, Biden is leaving Trump in the dust in terms of both large contributions and small individual donations under $200. At the end of February, Biden’s campaign boasted $71 million cash on hand, while Trump’s campaign had $33.5 million. Last Thursday, Biden raked in $25 million with a single event, more than Trump raised in all of February.

Meanwhile, Trump has used tens of millions of dollars of donations from his supporters to pay for his legal fees, largely through the Save America PAC. But these accounts are running dry. In February, Save America spent more on Trump’s legal costs than it raised.

What’s Trump to do? Trump’s allies are hoping to raise over $33 million for his campaign and the RNC at an April 6 fundraiser in Florida. But given Trump has a fundraising deal with the RNC that will see a portion of donations directed to Save America, wealthy Republican donors may be reluctant to cough up money that could end up going toward his legal costs — and not the GOP’s success come November.

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