GOP leaders alarmed by Trump’s ‘devastating’ fundraising start
By Matea Gold and Philip Rucker
June 21 at 2:07 PM
washingtonpost.com
As top Republicans expressed astonishment and alarm over Donald Trump’s paltry campaign fundraising totals, the presumptive nominee blamed party leaders Tuesday and threatened to rely on his personal fortune instead of helping the GOP seek the cash it needs.
New campaign finance reports showing that Trump had less than $1.3 million in the bank heading into June ignited fears that the party will not be able to afford the kind of national field effort that the entire Republican ticket depends on.
The real estate mogul responded by going on the offensive, saying GOP fundraisers have failed to rally around his campaign.
“I’m having more difficulty, frankly, with some of the people in the party,” Trump said on NBC’s “Today” show, adding: “They don’t want to come on.”
“If it gets to a point,” he said, “what I’ll do is just do what I did in the primaries,” when he lent his presidential campaign more than $43 million.
The billionaire developer increased his line of credit to the campaign by just $2.2 million last month — the smallest amount he has shelled out yet this year — but Trump said in a statement Tuesday that “if need be, there could be unlimited cash on hand as I would put up my own money.”
Such a move would effectively amount to abandonment of the Republican National Committee and the rest of the GOP ticket, which relies on the presidential nominee to help raise hundreds of millions to fund a national field organization for the fall elections.
GOP strategist and fundraiser Austin Barbour said Trump’s dismal fundraising efforts “could have a devastating impact” on the Republican Party generally.
“If they don’t fix this in a massive way, it’s going to have widespread implications down the ballot. It just is,” Barbour said. “If he’s not raising hundreds of millions of dollars, there are gubernatorial races, Senate races, congressional races, attorney general races, you name it, that will be impacted. Those races are dependent upon get-out-the-vote efforts from the RNC and the presidential campaign.”
Trump’s threat comes as top Republicans warned that he squandered the month of May by neglecting to capitalize on clinching the nomination to build and activate a grass-roots fundraising base.
There is also growing scrutiny of his heavy use of Trump-owned companies as vendors. Of the $63 million his campaign spent through May, more than $6 million — close to 10 percent — went to pay Trump properties or reimburse Trump and his family for expenses, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. That includes $4.6 million paid to his private jet company, TAG Air, and $423,000 that went just last month to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla.
The Trump campaign did not respond to questions about the payments.
Meanwhile, expected Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has been stockpiling cash. She raised more than $28 million in May and started June with $42 million in the bank. The former secretary of state has held a string of high-dollar fundraisers in the last several weeks, including three hosted by wealthy donors in New York on Monday night.
Trump is “now looking into the abyss,”said Ed Rollins, the top strategist for Great America PAC, a pro-Trump super PAC. “He can either start writing checks and selling some buildings and golf courses or get on the phones and talk to donors. Big donors just don’t want to give money unless they have the opportunity to talk to the candidate, hear what your positions are. There’s just been a failure from start to finish on the fundraising side.”
Lisa Spies, a veteran GOP fundraising consultant, said she has been amazed at the lack of outreach from Trump.
“No donors that I deal with — and I deal with national Jewish and women donors — none of them has gotten a phone call. None. Not one,” Spies said. “To raise money, you have to ask for money. It’s that simple. Whether you ask for it by mail, whether you do phone calls, whether you do events, whether you have one-on-one meetings, you have to ask.”
Among those who have yet to receive a call is Fred Malek, the well-connected finance chairman of the Republican Governors Association.
“Many leading donors are waiting to see him take a more inclusive, tolerant and substantive approach to campaigning,” Malek said. “Even if they all came around with great enthusiasm, there’s no way in this short time frame that’s available he can build the kind of organization that will be competitive financially. There’s no way he can do it. Hillary Clinton’s been at this for several decades.”
One prominent Washington fundraiser who has played major roles on past Republican presidential campaigns said he has not heard of Trump reaching out to any of his peers.
“I have not been asked, and I don’t know anybody in town who has been asked,” said this person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly. “There is absolutely no discernible presence in D.C. raising on his behalf. And I’m guessing this is not unique to D.C. They are so [expletive] far behind the curve on so many things that are Campaign Organization 101, I find it inexplicable.”
The problems have spilled over to the RNC, which took on $2 million more debt in May, underscoring how Trump’s failure to build a fundraising structure has put financial pressure on the national party committee as well.
“Trump’s fundraising is shockingly thin and has created a dark cloud over his ability to be financially competitive with the Clinton machine,” said Scott Reed, a veteran GOP operative and top strategist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “While the finance numbers are weak, this is nothing a smart VP choice, an exciting, substantive convention and a strong first debate performance cannot overcome.”
Other veteran Republican financiers were more pessimistic. Trump has resisted making fundraising calls to major donors and is uncomfortable soliciting support because he is so accustomed to being wooed himself, according to people familiar with the situation. Some of the party’s most reliable bundlers have declined to sign on to the fundraising operation, which is being run by a team of longtime RNC fundraisers The campaign’s bare-bones staff has also been slow to schedule dates for finance events around the country.
[ Here’s why the RNC needs Donald Trump to step up his fundraising game]
In a statement, the Trump campaign maintained that fundraising has been strong since the candidate held his first finance event on May 25, and said the numbers will be reflected in its next Federal Election Commission report filed in July.
“To date, the campaign’s fundraising has been incredible and we continue to see a tremendous outpouring of support for Mr. Trump and money to the Republican Party,” the statement said. “The positive response to our fundraising efforts so far is a further indication that the country does not want yet another corrupt politician like Crooked Hillary.”
But GOP strategists are particularly exasperated that Trump has been slow to tap into his fervent base of supporters for small donations online, potentially leaving tens of millions of dollars on the table over the last month.
“There’s no question that if Ben Carson could raise an enormous amount of money from the conservative base, that he could have,” Rollins said, referring to the retired neurosurgeon and former GOP presidential candidate who ran a strong grass-roots fundraising operation. “He has millions and millions of supporters, but early on, he pooh-poohed all of that.”
Trump on Tuesday sent what he touted as his first fundraising email. (It wasn’t: A joint fundraising committee he has with the RNC sent an email solicitation in his name on June 8.)
“I’m going to help make it the most successful introductory fundraising email in modern political history by personally matching every dollar that comes in WITHIN THE NEXT 48 HOURS, up to $2 million!” Trump wrote in Tuesday’s missive.
It was unclear whether he means to actually donate additional funds or continue to loan his campaign cash. The billionaire has now loaned his campaign $45.7 million and given it $400,000 more, while collecting $17 million in contributions.
Trump also helped bring in $3 million for the RNC through Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee set up at the end of May.
However, a large share of that money — $1.8 million — is earmarked for new party accounts to pay for convention, legal and headquarters expenses.
The party raised $11 million in May and ended the month with $20 million in the bank — but also nearly $7 million in debt, up from almost $5 million at the end of April.
Sean Spicer, the RNC’s communications director, said the party’s increased line of credit was typical for this point in an election year, adding that party officials were optimistic about fundraising.
“This report only reflects one week of the joint fundraising agreement, and I think as we continue to ramp up, you’re going to see continued enthusiasm from donors around the country,” he said.
Still, the RNC is in a starkly different place compared to four years ago. In May 2012, the national party scooped up more than $34 million, ending the month with more than $60 million in the bank and $9.9 million of debt. Nearly $26 million that month came through Romney Victory, a joint fundraising effort between the party and the 2012 nominee, Mitt Romney.
Anu Narayanswamy contributed to this report.
Matea Gold is a national political reporter for The Washington Post, covering money and influence.
Follow @mateagold
Philip Rucker is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post, where he has reported since 2005.
Follow @PhilipRucker |
