By Former president Donald Trump’s joint fundraising committee raised $35 million in the second quarter of this year, according to two Trump advisers — a total that speaks to his continuing dominance within the field of GOP contenders for president.
The money was raised through his joint fundraising committee — dividing the cash that he raised between his official campaign and his leadership PAC, Save America, which he has used to pay some of his legal bills. The report detailing the amount that he raised and spent between April and June is not yet available from the Federal Election Commission. His aides, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, did not immediately reveal how much money went to each entity, though the fine print on recent fundraising solicitations has said 90 percent of the money will be directed to the campaign and 10 percent to Save America.
One adviser said the average donation to the campaign has been $34, which the person said was a testament to how “grass-roots Republicans overwhelmingly stand with President Trump.”
Trump is the front-runner in a crowded Republican field that includes Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) and former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley.
The $35 million figure is more than twice what Trump raised through his joint fundraising committee in the first quarter, demonstrating the intense loyalty and level of engagement of his supporters. The total for the second quarter was first reported by Politico.
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In the first three months of 2023, Trump raised about $14.5 million for his campaign and another $4.3 million for the post-presidency PAC that he has used to pay advisers and to stage events.
That first-quarter sum was far lower than the amount he had raised in the first quarter of 2019 when he was building his war chest to run for reelection as president. But Trump’s second-quarter haul of more than $35 million this year underscores how his fundraising has accelerated in the midst of his legal troubles.
He was indicted by a Manhattan grand jury in late March in a case involving hush money payments to an adult-film star and pleaded not guilty in April to all 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump was criminally charged in June in connection with the discovery that hundreds of classified documents were taken to his Mar-a-Lago home after he left the White House. The former president was charged with violating seven federal laws, including illegal retention of government secrets and conspiracy to obstruct justice. He has denied wrongdoing.
Trump is also under investigation by a state prosecutor in Georgia, who is looking at his efforts to overturn President Biden’s 2020 victory in that state. Special counsel Jack Smith, who led the classified-documents investigation, is also investigating Trump’s attempts to stay in office after losing the presidential election, including his pressure on officials in battleground states and fundraising off false claims of election fraud.
The charges have fueled outrage among his supporters as the former president argues that he is the target of political persecution. He has sent out fundraising solicitations asking supporters to stand with him in what he describes as “witch hunts.” The campaign has capitalized on the outrage among his admirers, selling T-shirts with a fake mug shot above the phrase “Not Guilty.”
Self-reported numbers from the campaign cannot be verified until the campaign files its disclosures with the FEC by the deadline on July 15.
Michael Scherer contributed to this report.