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<\/p>\nORLANDO, Fla. \u2015 After years of claiming he was so rich he didn\u2019t need anyone else\u2019s money for his political campaigns, Donald Trump is officially asking small-dollar donors \u2015 many of them lower income and older \u2015 to send him cash, potentially hurting the Republican Party\u2019s small-dollar program.<\/p>\n
The request was tucked in near the end of his first public appearance since leaving the presidency Jan. 20, a 90-minute speech Sunday that largely recycled his oft-repeated lies about the November election and his record in office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s only one way to contribute to our efforts, to elect \u2018America first\u2019 Republican conservatives. And in turn, to make America great again. And that\u2019s through Save America PAC and Donald J Trump dot com,\u201d he told his Conservative Political Action Conference audience.<\/p>\n
One Trump adviser said that single request resulted in \u201cmillions of dollars\u201d coming in to Trump\u2019s new political committee and predicted it would eat into the Republican National Committee\u2019s efforts to raise money from those donors.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll kill it,\u201d the adviser said on condition of anonymity. \u201cThey\u2019re not going to have a small-donor program anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
What precise effect Trump\u2019s new fundraising push for his own committee \u2015 which he can use for virtually any purpose, including picking up his personal expenses or paying himself an eight-figure salary\u00a0\u2015 will have on the party\u2019s efforts are unclear.<\/p>\n
The RNC has had a healthy small-donor program, which targets those giving $50 or $20 or even $5 at a time, for decades. In 2001, for example, the party raised $40.2 million from donors who gave less than $200, accounting for 63% of the party\u2019s total fundraising that year, according to a HuffPost analysis of Federal Election Commission filings. In 2009, those figures were $56.8 million and 69.8%.<\/p>\n
From 2001 through 2015, the RNC collected 53.2% of its money from those who gave less than $200. From 2016 through 2020, it was 53.6%.<\/p>\n
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But in those Trump years, the party also received $156 million from a small-dollar fundraising committee it jointly ran with the Trump campaign, adding to the $428 million in small donations it raised on its own, although those solicitations frequently invoked Trump\u2019s name in the email or text message.<\/p>\n
One Republican close to RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Trump told her recently that he\u2019s willing to help the party raise money and that he plans to appear at an RNC donors retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, next month, along with other potential 2024 presidential candidates.<\/p>\n
One former RNC member, though, said Trump\u2019s independent solicitations for Save America PAC are certain to weaken the party\u2019s parallel efforts. \u201cIt will definitely have a negative impact and all those people who contributed to the RNC just because of Trump will likely gravitate towards his own small-donor program,\u201d said Steve Duprey, who was pushed out of the committee for being insufficiently loyal to Trump.<\/p>\n
And a current RNC member, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said a major concern for the party is that Trump will use the money he raises not against Democrats in the coming midterm elections, but against Republicans who voted to impeach him for the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol he incited or on those who have otherwise criticized him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the temper tantrum PAC,\u201d the member said, pointing to Trump\u2019s attacks on other Republicans during his CPAC speech. \u201cTrump\u2019s agenda is quite different. It\u2019s all about revenge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump boasted through the years that he did not need money from wealthy donors, from lobbyists or even from small-dollar contributors because he was so rich.<\/p>\n
The boast, however, was never accurate. Even as he began his campaign in 2015, he funded his trips and staged his rallies using money generated by selling \u201cMake America Great Again\u201d hats and T-shirts. After he became the nominee in 2016, he immediately began soliciting money online from small donors and at traditional fundraisers from wealthy donors.<\/p>\n
His money machine never let up, even after he won the presidency, allowing him to build a massive campaign operation starting almost immediately \u2015 and also letting him funnel millions of dollars raised back into his own pocket by directing campaign and party spending at his own businesses.<\/p>\n
All that time, however, Trump continued claiming he did not want or need his donors\u2019 money, and he never asked for donations in a public setting \u2015 until Sunday.<\/p>\n
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The Trump adviser said the former president now understands that a donor giving a few dollars a month becomes emotionally invested in his success and is much likelier to remain a strong supporter. \u201cHe now sees the power of a $5 donation. He\u2019s finally got his head wrapped around that,\u201d the adviser said, adding that Trump also needs money to remain relevant enough to run for his old job again in three years. \u201cHe needs cash. Cash puts him on the ground; it lets him do his rallies,\u201d the adviser added.<\/p>\n
According to new FEC filings, Trump on Saturday transformed his old campaign committee, Donald J. Trump For President, into the Make America Great Again PAC, which will allow him to use the $8 million left in it from his failed reelection bid for other purposes. His new webpage states that 90% of all donations go to Save America PAC, which he created in the days following his Nov. 3 loss, while 10% go to MAGA PAC. Donations are limited to $5,000 per year.<\/p>\n
Trump is the first one-term president in modern times to nevertheless try to remain a force in national politics after losing reelection. He was able to raise $76 million for Save America in the weeks between the election and the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection by claiming, in hundreds of fundraising texts and emails, that the money would let him pursue challenges to the election results and help Republicans hold Georgia\u2019s two Senate seats. In the end, though, he spent none of that money for those purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cRepublican dollars were probably much more needed in Georgia,\u201d said Paul Ryan, a campaign law expert with the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, adding that while Trump now claims he will help Republicans in the midterms, he is not required to. \u201cHe has shown a total and complete willingness to raise money for a stated reason and to spend it on something else. I have no doubt he will continue doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n