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President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump
CNN
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Donald Trump’s campaign saw an increase in donations in February, but it fell short of the accelerating fundraising pace of Joe Biden, new filings show. He has already expanded a significant financial advantage over his Republican rivals heading into the general election runoff.
The February financial report, filed Wednesday night, also highlights the high cost of Trump’s continued legal troubles. The legal fees alone exceed the amount the Trump Leadership PAC received last month.
Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy Jr., whose independent candidacy for the White House has come under increasing scrutiny and criticism from Democrats, is trying to help him penetrate voters and gain access to the ballot in more states. Allied super PACs are spending millions to help, racking up huge bills.
Here are some key takeaways from February’s new campaign submissions.
The new filings cover only a portion of the committees associated with each presidential candidate, but they continue to show that Biden had an early fundraising advantage.
The president left $71 million in available cash in his main campaign accounts at the end of February, more than double the $33.5 million in cash reserves held by the Trump campaign. Mr. Biden widened the gap to Mr. Trump’s approximately $30.5 million in available funds at the end of January, when his campaign had about $56 million in available funds.
The filings also show that the Democratic National Committee ended February with more than twice as much cash on hand as the Republicans, a political move that Mr. Trump is seeking to build in collaboration with the national Republican Party while also being a party arrogant. It strengthened the Democratic Party’s financial advantage over the operation. candidate.
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Although some organizations associated with the presidential candidates do not plan to release their balance sheets to federal regulators until next month, the totals released by the candidates’ campaigns highlight the disparity between the two candidates as of the end of February. .
The Trump campaign and joint fundraising committee raised a combined $20.3 million in February and had a total of $41.9 million in cash on hand this month, a Trump campaign official told CNN.
These amounts are far below the $53 million that Biden and Democrats previously announced they had raised in February and the massive $155 million in available cash that the president’s team said it had raised with related committees. There is.
Faced with a campaign fundraising crisis, Mr. Trump has taken a more hands-on approach to donors, including meeting with them at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. The former president will headline a big-ticket fundraiser in Palm Beach next month, with perks including dinner at his table for top donors, according to an invitation obtained by CNN. .
Wednesday’s filing also highlights the financial burden of President Trump’s ongoing legal troubles.
The Save America Leadership PAC, which President Trump has used as a vehicle to defray legal fees for himself and his allies, spent nearly $5.6 million on legal fees in February.
These expenses exceeded Save America’s total income, most of which came in the form of a $5 million refund the PAC received from MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC. In total, Save America recovered more than $52 million from Save America. A super PAC is diverting resources from accounts intended to support Trump’s candidacy for president to pay off mounting legal costs.
Save America will soon exhaust the $60 million in refunds it previously requested from MAGA Inc.
President Trump faces 88 criminal charges in four jurisdictions and is scrambling to secure $500 million in bail as he appeals a civil fraud conviction in New York state.
The Trump campaign’s recent joint fundraising agreement with national and state Republicans will direct some of the money raised to benefit Save America, potentially adding to the party’s leadership PAC’s dwindling balance.
MAGA Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, raised $12.7 million in February, including $5 million from Nevada-based hotelier and space entrepreneur Robert Bigelow. Supported by dollar donations.
Bigelow, who previously supported the campaign of former Trump rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will participate in a big-ticket fundraiser next month to benefit Trump and the Republican Party. He is one of several wealthy Republican donors planning to do so.
Other contributors to the Trump super PAC last month included former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler and businessman James Liotteau.
A super PAC aligned with Kennedy increased spending in February, pouring resources into advertising and ballot access efforts, according to new reports.
American Values 2024, the leading super PAC supporting the Kennedy campaign, reported spending nearly $8.8 million last month, up sharply from $1.4 million in January. February’s biggest expense was paying CBS more than $6 million for a high-profile and controversial Super Bowl ad that reused a spot from the candidate’s late uncle’s 1960 presidential campaign. is.
The group also reported that Mr. Kennedy has spent about $950,000 on ballot access efforts as he seeks to appear on the presidential list in the fall.
American Values 2024 reported raising $4.2 million last month, $4 million of which came from megadonor ally Gavin de Becker.
Mr. de Becker, a private security company executive, previously donated $10 million to a super PAC and received $9.65 million back, an unusual arrangement that super PAC officials previously referred to as “bridging funds.” It is.
Super PAC officials did not immediately respond Wednesday to CNN’s investigation into a $4 million donation from Mr. De Becker in February. His company is also a top vendor to the Kennedy campaign.
Earlier this month, the DNC filed a complaint against the super PAC, alleging that the group failed to adequately disclose Mr. de Becker’s activities, including loans and loan repayments. American Values 2024 reported no further contribution refunds in February.
Meanwhile, Kennedy’s main campaign committee raised $3.2 million and spent nearly $2.9 million last month. The company entered March with about $5.1 million in cash on hand, but owed De Becker’s company more than $1.3 million for security services and travel expenses.
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