Embattled Trump faces major 'cash crunch' — while Biden donations soar

Former President Donald Trump needs a great deal of money in 2024 — not only because of his presidential campaign, but also, because of his many legal problems. None of the four criminal prosecutions he is facing have gone to trial yet, although various civil cases are costing him a fortune.

After being awarded $5 million in her first of two civil defamation lawsuits against Trump in 2023, former Elle Magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll was awarded $83.3 million in the second one. And New York State Attorney General Letitia James is asking for $370 million in sanctions in her civil fraud lawsuit against Trump; the amount that Justice Arthur Engoron, assigned to the case, will ultimately decide on remains to be seen.

In an article published by NBC News' website on February 1, reporters Jonathan Allen and Bridget Bowman describe the "cash crunch" that Trump is facing as he "tries to defend himself in court, lock down the Republican nomination and turn toward a general election rematch with an increasingly money-flush President Joe Biden."

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"Campaign finance records filed Wednesday, (January 31) show the main super PAC supporting Trump's campaign, MAGA Inc., spent more than it raised in the last six months of 2023 — primarily by transferring back $30 million to Save America, the main vehicle for paying the former president's prodigious legal fees," Allen and Bowman explain. "Similarly, Trump's official campaign blew through more cash than it took in over the last three months of the year. That suggests that Trump's recent threats to blackball Republican donors who don't give to him are about more than just loyalty: He also needs the money."

The journalists stress that Biden's reelection campaign, in contrast, is doing well in the fundraising department.

Biden's 2024 campaign, Allen and Bowman note, "ended" 2023 "with $46 million in cash — far more than the $33 million Trump's campaign held before the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary."

"Without a serious primary challenger," the NBC News reporters observe, "Biden has been able to focus his money on communicating to voters about himself and Trump…. Biden spent $19.3 million over the final quarter of the year, with about $12 million of the total going toward making and placing ads. Combine that with $2 million for text message outreach to voters, and communications dominated Biden's expenditures."

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Read NBC News' full report at this link.