By any measure, Donald Trump is the best fundraiser in the Republican Party.
The latest campaign finance reports show that Trump’s Save America PAC ended January with $108 million on hand, a stunning war chest for a politician who is no longer even in elected office. (By comparison, the Republican National Committee finished last month with less than half that amount – $51.7 million – in the bank.)
While Trump is very good at raising money, he is less willing to donate that money to Republican candidates running for office.
As Bloomberg’s Bill Allison noted over the weekend:
“Donald Trump’s Save America ended January with $108 million in the bank, yet the former president’s political action committee didn’t donate any of it last month to the dozens of candidates he’s backing. …
“… Save America has donated just $350,500 to candidates since July. That’s less than the $838,000 the PAC spent on event staging and related expenses in January.”
What this all shows is that the primary focus of Trump’s fundraising since leaving office is to benefit him – not the Republican Party.
The money Trump has doled out so far is an absolute pittance compared with how much he has raised. And while he has endorsed more than 100 candidates in the 2022 election cycle, he’s proved far more willing to issue a statement of support than to, well, put his money where his mouth is.
That’s in keeping with Trump’s overall political priorities, which look something like this:
1. Trump
2. Trump
3. Trump
4. Other Republicans supportive of Trump
The Point: Trump is ALWAYS about Trump. His fundraising – and how he spends that money – is just the latest reminder of that basic fact.
