Trump raises $170M since Election Day through solicitation blitz
— President Donald Trump has raised roughly $170 million since his Election Day defeat, a sum garnered through a nonstop stream of solicitations that have falsely claimed the election was stolen while requesting contributions for an “election defense fund.”
Most of the money was raised in the days after the Nov. 3 election, according to a person familiar with Trump’s effort who requested anonymity to discuss details of the operation.
The amount, which approaches the sums Trump took in at the height of the campaign, offers another sign that he does not intend to leave the White House quietly and will remain a force in Republican politics.
As Trump’s chances of reelection dwindled after the election, his campaign began bombarding supporters with hundreds of emails and text messages that made inaccurate claims about voter fraud and election irregularities, while requesting money to fight the outcome.
They haven’t let up since.
“My father was 100% right when he said mail-in ballots would cause problems. YOU deserve a FAIR and TRANSPARENT Election,” Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. said Tuesday in one such email.
But the fine print indicates much of the money has instead paid down campaign debt, replenished the Republican National Committee and, more recently, helped get Save America, a new political act i on committee Trump founded, off the ground.
Seventy-five percent of each contribution made now goes to Save America, with the remaining 25% going to the RNC’s operating account. It’s only once donors have given the legal maximum to Trump’s political committee and the RNC that money begins spilling over into accounts specifically intended to pay for legal proceedings related to the election.
Save America’s one-year maximum contribution is $5,000, while the RNC can collect $35,000.
The way the Trump campaign is divvying up the contributions has drawn scrutiny f rom election watchdogs, who say Trump and his family are poised to financially benefit from the arrangement.
Save America is a type of campaign committee that is often referred to as a “leadership PAC,” which has higher contribution limits — $5,000 per year — and faces fewer restrictions on how the money is spent. Unlike candidate campaign accounts, leadership PACs can also be tapped to pay for personal expenses.
Trump spokesman Tim Murtaugh declined to comment.