Former President Donald Trump is closing the gap on President Joe Biden’s cash advantage but still trails by a significant margin.
In sum, the seven FEC-registered groups connected to President Trump’s reelection campaign had about $110.3 million in cash on hand at the end of March. That is significantly less than the $187.6 million President Biden could access at the same time.
The Republican National Committee, now more closely tied to the Trump campaign than ever before, will likely aid President Trump’s cause, too.
Nevertheless, it ended March with about half as much cash as the Democratic National Committee.
Major Donations
FEC records show that most of the funding for Save America and MAGA PAC comes from one entity: the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc.Federal records show that it transferred $15 million to Save America during the first three months of 2024.
In March, MAGA Inc. received numerous donations of more than $1 million.
The biggest check came from Linda McMahon. She sent MAGA Inc. $5 million in March, according to FEC records.
A corporation, RAI Services, also sent $2.5 million to MAGA Inc.
RAI is part of British tobacco company British American Tobacco PLC.
A new joint fundraising committee called Trump 47 Committee will split the money between the RNC, Trump campaign entities, and various Republican Party causes.
As for Trump 47, the committee’s April 15 FEC disclosure showed both Mr. Bigelow and Ms. McMahon contributed more than $800,000 to the committee in March.
Other attendees of the April 8 fundraiser sent $600,000 or more to the committee: Carol Adams, Jose “Pepe” Fanjul, Harold Hamm, Robert “Woody” Johnson, Kelly Loeffler, Jaime McCourt, Robert Mercer, Geoffrey Palmer, John Paulson, Phil Ruffin, Jeff Sprecher, Kelcy Warren, and Stephen Wynn.
Legal Expenses
President Trump is using millions of campaign dollars to defend himself in civil and criminal proceedings.The April 15 and April 20 FEC disclosures revealed two political action committees closely linked to the former president continue to cover most of the legal expenses tied to those prosecutions.
President Trump calls the trials a form of election interference and says the cases are politically motivated.
In March, President Trump’s leadership PAC Save America covered most of the legal bills, paying various firms $3.7 million for legal costs.
Over the first three months of 2024, another committee—Make America Great Again PAC—spent about $1.8 million to pay lawyers and law firms.
All told, the political accounts linked to President Trump paid about $16.1 million in legal expenses through the first three months of the election year.
President Trump said the New York case will sideline him from the campaign trail for its duration. He planned to appear in North Carolina on April 21, but the event was canceled due to weather.
Meanwhile, President Biden is visiting states critical to presidential politics.
On April 23, he is speaking in Tampa, Florida, about abortion.
As the Trump campaign spends on its legal defense, the Biden campaign is splurging on advertising.
