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Trump and R.N.C. Raised $105 Million in 2nd Quarter, Outdoing Obama Trump and R.N.C. Raised $105 Million in 2nd Quarter, a Sign He Will Have Far More Money Than in 2016
(32 minutes later)
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee on Tuesday said they had raised $105 million in the second quarter of this year, dwarfing what President Barack Obama raised in the equivalent period during his re-election campaign. WASHINGTON — President Trump’s re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee said on Tuesday they had raised $105 million in the second quarter of this year, outraising President Barack Obama in the equivalent period during his 2012 re-election campaign and signaling that Mr. Trump will have far more resources than he did in 2016.
The campaign and the R.N.C. said they had a combined $100 million in cash on hand, and that they had raised more money online in the second quarter than in the first half of 2018. The staggering total figure can be plowed into television and digital advertising, get-out-the-vote efforts and other activities related to the 2020 election. The campaign and the committee said that they had a combined $100 million in cash on hand, and that they had raised more money online in the second quarter than in the first half of 2018. Mr. Trump and his committees raised $54 million, they said, and the Republican National Committee raised $51 million, money that can be plowed into television and digital advertising, get-out-the-vote efforts and other activities related to the 2020 election.
Mr. Trump and his committees raised $54 million, they said, and the R.N.C. raised $51 million. The campaign officials did not say how many individual donors had contributed, or how many gave money in increments of $200 or less. The official report, which will include spending, will be filed with the Federal Election Commission on July 15. While Mr. Trump may be trailing the Democratic front-runners in the polls, his second-quarter numbers were a reminder that as an incumbent, he has advantages that were unavailable to him as an untraditional, first-time candidate in 2016.
Mr. Trump has not sought to restrict who can give money to his campaign. Mr. Trump rose to the presidency with fewer staff members and less money than his opponent, Hillary Clinton. This time, he will have the Republican Party’s fund-raising mechanism, as well as the powers of the presidency, bolstering his raw personal appeal to his base, even as he tries to present himself as the outsider to the political establishment that he once was.
The president’s campaign manager, Brad Parscale, called it a “massive fund-raising success” based on enthusiasm for Mr. Trump’s record, which he said no Democratic candidate could match. “A huge advantage the president’s got is, he’s the nominee, he’s the incumbent,” said Ann Herberger, a veteran Republican fund-raiser who worked for Jeb Bush over several campaigns, including his presidential run. The Democrats, Ms. Herberger said, “are in the same boat that we were in 2016 — until their convention, it’s a food fight, it’s every man for himself.”
Trump campaign officials said they received 725,000 individual donations online, with supporters giving an average of $4 — small-donor enthusiasm that was unprecedented in Republican politics, according to a committee official, who noted it was the first time the Republican National Committee attracted a larger share of donations under $200 than the Democratic National Committee.
At the same time, as president, Mr. Trump also has command of the party’s donor base in a way he never did in 2016. The official said the Republican National Committee, which has taken the lead on fund-raising for Mr. Trump’s re-election, overseeing the digital efforts and major donor events, also saw a large uptick in traditional party donors, which increased to more than one-third of the committee’s total fund-raising since the last cycle.
The official report on the Mr. Trump’s campaign finances for the quarter, which will include spending, will be filed on July 15 with the Federal Election Commission.
In 2011, during the same period, Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign raised $47 million, and the Democratic National Committee brought in $38 million, Jim Messina, the Obama campaign manager, said at the time. The comparisons are not perfect because a 2014 Supreme Court case and other legal changes allowed candidates and parties to form joint fund-raising committees that can accept single donations of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The Trump campaign manager, Brad Parscale, called the $105 million a “massive fund-raising success” based on enthusiasm for the president’s record, which Mr. Parscale said no Democratic candidate could match. He has said in the past that his goal is to raise $1 billion for the cycle among the various committees supporting Mr. Trump’s re-election.
The early fund-raising totals are also a testament to the more professional operation working on Mr. Trump’s behalf both at the Republican National Committee and his campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va. — a tactical element of the campaign that is separate from Mr. Trump. It is a sharp departure from how he ran his 2016 general election campaign as an underdog taking on a better-funded Democratic opponent, Mrs. Clinton.
In that race, Mr. Trump funded his campaign with $66.1 million of his own money. He raised $86.7 million from donors who gave $200 or less, and $46.9 million from large individual contributions, according to campaign filings. In total, including his own money, Mr. Trump raised $350.7 million, far less than Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, which raised $585.7 million.
The main effect of his early fund-raising is the ability to stockpile large bundles of cash while Democrats are spending their money fighting each other.
“Democratic fund-raising is getting a lot of attention, but the Trump campaign is slowly amassing a huge war chest, and unlike theirs, it won’t be spent trying to win a primary,” said Matt Gorman, a former adviser to the Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney presidential campaigns. “Events like debates or announcements that are cash cows for Democrats are just as helpful to Republican fund-raising, too.”
[Pete Buttigieg’s $24.8 million second-quarter total is the latest evidence that he has gone from a long shot to a serious candidate for the nomination in a matter of months.][Pete Buttigieg’s $24.8 million second-quarter total is the latest evidence that he has gone from a long shot to a serious candidate for the nomination in a matter of months.]
Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the R.N.C., said the fund-raising allowed the committee to “identify troves of new supporters online and continue investing in our unprecedented field program.” Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, said the fund-raising allowed the committee to “identify troves of new supporters online and continue investing in our unprecedented field program.”
For a president who values large numbers and has told aides that he wants record-breaking fund-raising reports, the figures are expected to be particularly rewarding. The committee and campaign plan to invest heavily in online advertising, the committee official said, in order to help build out their email and cellphone lists. So far, the official said, the Republican National Committee has spent close to $20 million on prospecting for new donors and is looking to spend more.
And the amount of money that was both raised and stored away will be daunting for Mr. Trump’s eventual challenger, underscoring the benefits of incumbency. Mr. Trump’s campaign relied primarily on the Trump family to solicit online donations, blasting out appeals from the president, as well as from his adult sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.; his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump; and from Mr. Parscale himself. One fund-raising email featured a pitch from Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker.
In 2011, during the same period, Mr. Obama’s re-election campaign raised $47 million, and the Democratic National Committee brought in $38 million, Jim Messina, the Obama campaign manager, said at the time. Previous reports with the Federal Election Commission show that the Trump campaign and the party committee have spent roughly $17 million on legal fees, some of them related to campaign compliance. Other expenses relate to legal fees for members of the Trump family or officials who were connected to congressional inquiries and the special counsel’s investigation.
Mr. Trump’s fund-raising haul is a testament to the more professional operation that his campaign has been running, primarily out of Arlington, Va. In 2016, Mr. Trump poured millions of dollars of his own money into his campaign. But he also raised a considerable amount from small donors online. Even with a heavy legal overhead, the amount of money that was both raised and stored away will be daunting for Mr. Trump’s eventual challenger, underscoring the benefits of incumbency.
This time around, as president, he also has command of the party’s donor base in a way he never did in 2016. And Ms. McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, is known as an aggressive fund-raiser. By comparison, the announcement on Monday that Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., and a Democratic presidential candidate, had raised $24.8 million in the second quarter was seen as a stunning number for a candidate who was relatively unknown six months ago.
The Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind., announced on Monday that he had raised $24.8 million in the second quarter, which was seen as a stunning number for a candidate who was relatively unknown six months ago. Trailing Mr. Buttigieg was Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose campaign said he had raised $18 million in the past three months.
Mr. Buttigieg has impressed a number of the party’s more traditional donors, enhancing his fund-raising, even as more prominent candidates jostle to overtake the front-runner, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Other campaigns in the large Democratic field have yet to announce fund-raising for the quarter, although some saw an increase after the first primary debate, which was held last week over two nights in Miami.
Trailing Mr. Buttigieg was Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who announced his quarterly totals on Tuesday. Mr. Sanders’s campaign said he had raised $18 million in the past three months. “There’s a very real risk for Democrats that Trump is going to have the resources to define himself and our nominee in the spring before we can,” said Robby Mook, who served as Mrs. Clinton’s campaign manager in 2016. “That’s a very real risk. It should worry us.”
Other campaigns in the large Democratic field have yet to announce fund-raising for the quarter, although some saw an increase after the first primary debate, which was held over two nights in Miami last week.
Senator Kamala Harris, the California Democrat, said she had raised $2 million in the 24 hours after her appearance in the debate, during which she confronted Mr. Biden, head-on over his past statements praising segregationist senators.
Aides to Mr. Biden, whose debate performance was widely criticized, said he had also seen a fund-raising bump in the hours after the event, but they did not release a number.