Trump already using war to 'stockpile campaign cash': report

The Dispatch reports President Donald Trump could not wait more than a few days before trying to raise campaign money off the war he declared in Iran.

“Trump is using the Iran war to stockpile campaign cash, issuing multiple email fundraising appeals during Week 1 of Operation Epic Fury,” said Dispatch writer David Drucker. “… Requests for contributions began hitting inboxes just a few days after the U.S. military initiated strikes on Iran on February 28.”

Drucker said the digital fundraisers are designed to motivate grassroots supporters who make small-dollar donations and are presented as direct messages from Trump, “crafted with the same plain-spoken and provocative language the president uses at campaign rallies and in social media posts.”

The Dispatch had reviewed more than a half-dozen such money asks sent by Team Trump, casting Democrats as weak on national security and demanding donations for his political operation.

“Iran wanted to bring DEATH TO AMERICA,” read one fundraiser, speaking for Trump, according to the Dispatch. “I had no other choice.”

Another email charges Iran with trying “to interfere” in the 2020 and 2024 elections “to stop President Trump from winning,” without evidence.

“In another, ‘radical left Democrats’ are said to be ‘complaining bitterly about the very necessary and important attack on Iran,’ and are accused of wanting to ‘weaken our resolve and let Iran rebuild,’” said Drucker, adding that the messages may also serve to “blunt blowback from the prominent Trump supporters on the MAGA right who oppose the war.”

“Strength sells,” said an anonymous veteran Republican strategist to The Dispatch. “People want to be a part of something strong and victorious. The Iran operation, to the extent it stays that way, benefits from that perception.”

The White House did not respond to an email requesting comment.