Faced with a massive shortfall in raising campaign cash compared to his presumptive opponent in the 2024 presidential race, Donald Trump and his advisers have decided to cut back on his high-profile campaign rallies in an effort to not drain the coffers even more.
With filings showing President Joe Biden and the Democrats sitting on a war chest of $130 million going into February while the former president, while not releasing all of his numbers, did show a combined $40 million with RNC cash included, the New York Times reports the Trump and his election prospects are facing a "perilous" stage.
As the Times' Maggie Haberman and Shane Goldmacher wrote, Trump has been holding donor meetings at Mar-a-Lago imploring supporters to increase their contributions.
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The report states, "Despite years of professing massive wealth and boasting of his desire to 'drain the swamp,' the deeply transactional former president is leaning yet again on the cash of others, turning Mar-a-Lago into a staging ground for billionaires and others with their own agendas," adding, "In a sign of the Trump orbit’s urgent need for cash, at least two donors who made seven-figure pledges to support Mr. Trump this year were nudged to see if they could cut an eight-figure check — meaning $10 million or more — instead, according to a person familiar with the request."
The cash deficit is already having an impact on campaign planning as cuts are being made, with the Times reporting the former president may do more campaigning from his Florida home base and less hitting the road.
"For now, the Trump operation is ramping up its program for bundlers of midsize donations and planning to conserve cash costs by holding fewer rallies than they did at the end of the primary season," the report adds.
Pointing out that the former president is reportedly "concerned about the fund-raising gap" with the sitting president, the Times report adds that big money donors are "hesitant" to throw more money at him fearing they will only be paying his legal bills.
On top of that, some donors don't want their names associated with him, with the Times reporting, "Some Republican donors have emphasized that wealthy contributors may write large checks, but they often don’t want to see that fact disclosed, given the controversy that attaches itself to Mr. Trump. A number of donors faced public blowback in 2016 for their support."
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