Trump scrambles to catch up with Biden in money race: 'He is focused on this fundraiser'

06 April 2024

Both major parties' presumptive presidential nominees have released their March 2024 fundraising totals, and President Joe Biden and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) remain significantly ahead of their GOP counterparts. Former President Donald Trump is now banking on a closed-door, high-dollar fundraiser tonight to somewhat close the gap between his campaign and that of his rival.

NBC News reported this weekend that the Biden campaign and the DNC collectively raised a whopping $90 million in March, which is more than they raised in January and February, combined. They also have a total of $192 million in cash on hand to invest in campaign infrastructure in the critical battleground states likely to decide the 2024 election.

Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC), in the meantime, raised more than $65 million last month according to the Washington Post, with roughly $93 million in cash on hand. While that's much more than the campaign has raised in any previous month, the former president and the RNC still lag behind the Democrats by roughly $100 million, with seven months of campaigning to go and Trump badly in need of financial help as his sky-high legal bills continue to climb.

At tonight's fundraiser — which will be hosted by hedge fund billionaire John Paulson — Trump hopes to bring in $50 million, which would be roughly double what Biden brought in at a recent New York fundraiser alongside former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. One unnamed Trump associate told the Post that Trump is keeping a close eye on the attendees, which ones have already given the maximum allowable amount and who among his close allies is writing big checks to the former president.

“He is focused on this fundraiser,” the associate said.. “[Trump] has a lot of friends in Palm Beach, and he’s saying, are they giving?”

A large chunk of the money raised tonight will likely go toward the ex-president's legal bills. Trump has already brokered an agreement with the RNC and his related political action committees about how the money will be distributed between his personal legal fees and his campaign.

"Under the waterfall agreement negotiated by Trump & the RNC, the first $6,600 of each $814,600 check goes to the campaign, then 5k to Save America -- one of the PACs Trump is using to pay legal fees -- then the next $413,000 to RNC. In 2023, Trump PACs spent $55.6m on legal bills," tweetedPost reporter Maeve Reston.

Even though Trump is expected to bring in a much-needed injection of funds into his campaign tonight, Biden's allies aren't worried. Campaign officials cited data showing that Biden has sharply increased the number of "sustaining donors" — referring to backers who have agreed to make regular monthly donations — to 212,000.

"In many ways, this is kind of the election. It’s an engaged group of millions of people who are rolling up their sleeves and donating $5, $10 at a time, versus Donald Trump and his buddies who he wants to cut taxes for," Biden deputy campaign manager Rob Flaherty told NBC. "Who cares what he and a couple billionaires are able to have fall out of the sofa cushions. We’ve got a sustainable grassroots base that’s carrying us."

Click here to read the Post's full report (subscription required), and click this link to read NBC's reporting.

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