Fundraising way down as Trump starts 2024 run

NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump’s political operation started the year with about $25 million socked away for his recently launched 2024 presidential campaign, a sum that is substantially less than what he had on hand just one year ago, new campaign finance reports show.

The diminished sum, which is spread out across four campaign committees, is far less than the $105 million that Trump reported at the start of 2022.

It speaks to the potential challenges for Trump as he mounts his third bid for the presidency facing what is likely to be a crowded field of GOP candidates who will also be vying for campaign cash from the party’s donors.

At least one Republican challenger is preparing to jump into the race soon. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, is planning to announce her campaign Feb. 15.

Across his political committees, including his main campaign account, Trump raised $9.5 million since launching his bid on Nov. 15, according to his campaign, a far cry from the gargantuan sums his campaign boasted of raising in a matter of days — or even hours — back when he was still president.

Meanwhile, Trump vowed to end gender-affirming care for minors if re-elected in 2024.

In a video released on his Truth Social platform Tuesday, the former president outlined a series of proposals designed to “protect children from left-wing gender insanity.”

Trump began the nearly four-minute video by announcing his plan

“to stop the chemical, physical and emotional mutilation of our youth.” If elected, Trump said he would end President Joe Biden’s policies on gender-affirming care, which he called “cruel” and “ridiculous.”

Trump said he would sign an executive order instructing federal agencies “to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age,” and vowed to punish healthcare professionals who provide gender-affirming care to minors.

In his pledge, he said if educators or school officials “suggest to a child that they could be trapped in the wrong body,” they will be “faced with severe consequences including potential civil rights violations.”

His administration would also push schools to “promote positive education about the nuclear family” and celebrate “rather than (erase) the things that make men and women different and unique.”