CLEVELAND — Republican Donald Trump swept to his strongest fundraising month of the presidential election in June, pulling $26.7 million directly into his campaign as he tapped a fervent base of supporters for the millions of dollars in small donations he will need for an expensive and bitter general-election fight.
Donations of $200 or less accounted for nearly half the money the real-estate tycoon took in last month as he began to aggressively seek funds for his campaign. Those small donors could prove crucial to Trump as he taps them repeatedly for contributions before they hit the $2,700 cap on what each can donate to the Trump campaign for the November election.
His June fundraising total also includes more than $3.8 million from the candidate himself. The Republican spent a scant $7.8 million last month, a paltry sum for a major party nominee. But he started July with $20.2 million in available cash, his strongest cash position of the election.
Despite the efforts to shore up his operation, Trump still trailed Democrat Hillary Clinton in fundraising and campaign organization, reports filed late Wednesday with the Federal Election Commission indicated.
Clinton reported a $40.5 million campaign haul last month and raising another $29 million for Democratic Party vehicles. Her campaign began July with $44 million stockpiled in the bank, more than two times the amount available to Trump as the two headed to their respective nominating conventions this month.
The filings show the Trump campaign employed just 74 people last month, a bare-bones operation compared with the more than 650 people Clinton had reported on her payroll in June.
The campaign filings, on the eve of Trump accepting his party’s nomination, underscore the pressing need for the billionaire to inject fresh sums into a presidential race that could see more than a $1 billion spent by Democrats.In all, Clinton has taken in $288 million to Trump's $91.3 million.
In one sign of the growing urgency, his campaign on Wednesday signaled to donors that they should start writing checks to a super PAC, Rebuilding America Now – a stunning reversal for Trump, who denounced free-spending outside groups during the primary and mocked his GOP rivals for courting mega-donors such as the billionaire Koch brothers.
In a statement to the group, Trump’s vice presidential nominee, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said the PAC offered “one of the best ways to stop Clinton.” Super PACs can accept unlimited donations from virtually any sources but cannot coordinate their advertising with the candidate they support.
A super PAC backing Clinton, Priorities USA Action, already has raised nearly $100 million, including $12 million last month. It started July with $40 million in available cash. Its filing shows seven contributions of $1 million or more in June, led by hedge-fund manager Donald Sussman, one of the Democratic Party’s most stalwart contributors. Sussman gave $2 million to Priorities last month, bringing his total investment to $5.5 million.
Three unions — the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the National Education Association and a union representing the building trades— contributed $1 million each.
Trump’s controversial rhetoric about Latino immigrants, Muslims and women has deeply divided the Republican Party, driving away top figures, such as former President George W. Bush, the last Republican to hold the White House.
In an effort to reassure skittish contributors, Trump recently announced he had forgiven nearly $50 million in personal loans to his campaign. Wednesday’s filings confirmed he had done so.
Wednesday's reports also show:
- Trump's campaign continued to pay Trump businesses for services. A review of the filings showed more than $646,000 to Trump entities in June, including more than $466,000 to Trump-owned TAG Air and more than $100,000 to Trump Tower, where the campaign is headquartered, for rent and utilities.
- A $20,000 payment to Green Monster Consulting, the New Hampshire firm run by Corey Lewandowski, who helped engineer Trump's primary win but lost his job last month in a campaign shakeup.
Trump slow fundraising start has left him heavily dependent on the Republican National Committee to help him build a finance team and a ground operation to compete with Clinton’s. In all, he and Republican Party raised about $52 million through a joint fundraising committees – far short of the $106 million the 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney had collected with the party in June of that year.
The lion’s share, $25.6 million, went to Trump Victory, which raises money for the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and 11 state party committees. Half of Trump Victory’s donations came from 30 mega-donors who each contributed $250,000 or more. In all, they gave $12.1 million, according to campaign reports.
Trump’s rhetoric about Mexican immigrants, Muslims and women has deeply divided the Republican Party, driving away top figures, such as former President George W. Bush, the last Republican to hold the White House.Some of the Republican Party’s biggest donors have been slow to directly back his campaign.
Anthony Scaramucci, a New York hedge-fund manager who supports Trump, dismissed the holdouts as “political Luddites in our party who will not accept the breakthrough that has taken place.”
Scaramucci said he expected more money to flow into the Trump coffers in the days and weeks ahead with his formal nomination. “I expect a rush of capital into the campaign,” he told USA TODAY.
