Donald Trump, as he frequently reminds the public, claims significant wealth. Despite court rulings and meticulous investigations by business magazines suggesting his net worth is less than stated, his assets still reportedly tally up to billions on paper.
However, Trump appears reluctant to dip into his own wealth for legal expenses. Instead, he leverages the financial support of his loyal supporters, channeling their political donations into his mounting legal costs at an astounding pace. He is burning through these funds more quickly than his followers can replenish them.
To date, roughly one quarter of every dollar contributed to his campaign has been diverted to cover legal fees rather than campaign activities, according to the Financial Times. Since last January, he has allocated about $76 million of the $326 million received in campaign donations to legal expenses.
Moreover, Trump’s fundraising efforts are lagging. Over the same period, President Joe Biden has amassed approximately $413 million—achieved without the high-octane rallies or imposing revenue-sharing demands on fellow candidates.
The most critical issue now facing Trump is the depletion of these funds.
Save America PAC, which Trump utilizes as a legal war chest, has resorted to retrieving funds previously allocated to other campaign accounts due to a shortfall. As Bloomberg reported:
“Save America ended March with about $4 million cash on hand. It can also request Trump’s allied super-PAC to refund $2.8 million remaining from donations it received from Save America in 2022.”
This means that the current available funds, excluding ongoing donations, represent less than one tenth of what has already been expended on Trump’s legal defenses, with his initial criminal case just getting underway.
Navigating the next six weeks will require Trump to significantly boost donations, devise innovative financial strategies to manage his obligations (including covering his bond in the fraud case), or ultimately, tap into his personal funds.
With 88 felony charges to his name and convictions for fraud, defamation, and sexual assault, one wonders how he will manage the financial strain.
It is imperative that the FEC closely monitors the origins of campaign donations during this period to ensure no laundered foreign money infiltrates his campaign coffers.
