By Lucy Adautin
Donald Trump’s presidential campaign trails Joe Biden by $75 million in fundraising, and has 270,000 fewer unique donors compared to the same stage of his previous White House bid four years ago.
These insights, from a Financial Times analysis of federal campaign data, prompt concerns about the sustainability of Trump’s diminished support amid costly legal battles and what is anticipated to be the most expensive presidential race in history.
In the period from July 2023 to the first quarter of 2024, the Trump campaign and associated political action committees amassed about 900,000 donors, down from 1.17 million in the same period during the 2020 race, according to FT’s federal data analysis.
Meanwhile, President Biden has gained a significant fundraising edge, raising $165 million in the first three months of the year—$75 million more than pro-Trump groups, which collected just under $90 million.
Biden had $146 million on hand by March’s end and has raised $368 million in this election cycle. Pro-Trump groups are required to disclose their numbers by a federal deadline on Saturday night. They reported having $65 million in cash by the end of 2023.
These findings emerge as both candidates intensify their fundraising efforts with just under seven months left before the November vote.
“President Trump raised more in Q1 when he was the incumbent president than Joe Biden has raised in Q1 as the incumbent president this year,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “Team Trump will continue to raise the resources necessary to win on November 5th.”
Money remains crucial in the months-long White House races, as candidates blitz swing states with multimillion-dollar ad campaigns before the vote. In 2020, Biden raised a record $1bn in donations, and Trump hauled in about $775mn, according to the non-profit Open Secrets.
Texas businessman Roy Bailey, a top fundraiser for Ron DeSantis’s failed presidential campaign, said Biden enjoyed a “huge advantage” as president but wall-to-wall media coverage of Trump meant he did not need to raise as much money.
“I do think he can make it up,” said Bailey, who fundraised for Trump in 2020 and will again in 2024. “I don’t think he needs to, to win the election . . . He’ll have the last seven months of the year to put the pedal to the metal.”
Small donors — those giving $200 or less — have been critical to Trump’s campaigns. But many megadonors are also now backing him after previously pouring money into Republican primary rivals such as Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race for the party’s nomination last month.
The first-quarter figures do not include some of the recent fundraisers Trump has held with these big-money donors. On April 6, hedge fund billionaire John Paulson hosted an event that the Trump campaign claimed raised $50mn, which would be the biggest political fundraiser in US history. Earlier that week, Biden said he raised more than $25mn at an event with former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama at New York’s Radio City Music Hall.
Shale oil baron Harold Hamm, who co-chaired the Paulson fundraiser, told the FT the Florida fundraiser showed Trump was in “very, very good shape” in terms of his fundraising.
“With the amount of money that he raised [at the Florida fundraiser] doubling what Biden had raised even with the help of Obama and Clinton — I think that tells everything that you need to know.”
Trump has used his legal problems to raise money, but is also spending heavily on his defence in four criminal trials and a civil fraud case that threatens his business empire. He was in court in New York again on Tuesday for a criminal trial relating to his payments to a porn star.
This year, Trump has put together $175mn to post bond and appeal a New York civil court case, and sold $399 sneakers and $59.99 Bibles.
Trump will also be able to raise potentially hundreds of millions of dollars selling shares in his recently listed media company as soon as September, just weeks ahead of the election. The stock’s value, however, has dropped by two-thirds since its peak three weeks ago.
Pro-Trump groups shelled out over $50 million on his legal fees last year. Despite this, the former president’s most successful fundraising day among small-dollar donors occurred on August 25. This surge followed his surrender to authorities in Atlanta on felony charges related to the 2020 election.
Trump’s campaign capitalized on the moment by releasing his mugshot on T-shirts and mugs, resulting in approximately 85,000 contributions nearly 10 times the usual daily amount and generating nearly $4.3 million.
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