Trump's Fund-Raising: From Sluggish to Surging After Indictment

Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign raised $14.4 million during the first quarter of 2023. This is part of a haul of $18.8 millions across his two committees in this quarter. While modest, it represents only the beginnings of the fund-raising boom that was sparked by his arrest in late March.

His campaign reported that Mr. Trump had raised over $15 million since then. This includes at least $4,000,000 in the first 24 hours following The Times' report of his indictment.

The next quarterly report will be due in a few months. This will provide a more detailed accounting of Mr. Trump’s fund-raising after his arrest. The latest numbers still show that the case against Donald Trump has given a boost to his fundraising efforts, which were sluggish at first. He received more than 300,000. Most of these donations were less than $200.

Trump has a significant advantage in terms of fund-raising compared to his rivals and current candidates for the Republican nomination. But perhaps even more important is how his supporters have rallied behind the former president following his indictment. Many of them see it as a political move.

Steve Cheung, the Trump campaign's spokesperson, didn't respond to an inquiry for comment.

The majority of Mr. Trump's money was raised through the Save America Joint Fundraising Committee. In the first quarter, the committee received $14 million from the campaign. The campaign reported that the combined total of the two fundraising committees raised $18,8 million.

As of March 31, Mr. Trump's presidential campaign had $13.9 million in cash.

According to the most recent reports filed by that committee in January, Trump's campaign used its joint fund-raising group not only as a vehicle to distribute funds but also to pay for some campaign expenses. The committee also transferred money to another committee called Save America that supported Mr. Trump’s political activities.

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The financial picture of a presidential campaign can be obscured by the overlapping committees, which has become a standard practice for candidates. It was Saturday when Nikki Haley's presidential campaign, the former South Carolina Governor and United Nations Ambassador, took place.

Haley's presidential campaign claimed to have raised $11m in the first six-week period of her run. When three committees connected to her campaign filed disclosures on Sunday night, it seemed that the number of funds raised by them may have been double-counted.

Team Stand for America was her joint fund-raising group, and it raised $4.4 million. It transferred $1.8 to Nikki Haley for president, which received an additional $3.3 millions in contributions. Team Stand for America transferred $886,000 from her leadership PAC to Team Stand for America, which raised an additional $600,000.

The campaign may have overstated the amount of these two transfers. They totaled $2.7 million. This would make the actual haul around $8.3 millions. The super PAC that supports Ms. Haley is not required to submit a report until the middle of July. However, the PAC had $2 million in its bank account at the end 2022.

A spokesperson for the Haley campaign stated Saturday night that they had followed the precedent of other candidates who filed their documents. A representative of the F.E.C. A request for comments was not responded to.

The campaign of Mr. Trump in 2021 was the first to do this.