After the most recent filing deadline with the FEC passed Monday, Donald Trump has as expected emerged as the biggest fundraiser of the Republican field for the presidential nomination in 2023 so far. The Trump campaign raised around $54 million in the first six month of the year – far ahead of Ron DeSantis ($19.7 million) and Vivek Ramaswamy ($19.2 million, largely from self-financing).
However, the filings also show that this money – as well as money raised in 2022 and in possession of the Trump campaign as of Jan. 1, 2022 – has mostly been spent. As the Washington Post reports, Trump’s Leadership PAC Save America in particular has become the source of funds for Trump’s legal defense.
The more than $100 million in possession of the PAC as of Jan. 1, 2022, have all but disappeared. Despite some new money raised or funneled into the PAC, cash-on-hand was only $3.7 million on June 30, 2023.
Only $5.7 million remained in Trump’s Joint Fundraising Committee, which can disperse money raised into both the Candidate Committee and the Leadership PAC, which is a political action committee directly associated with a candidate. Trump’s official Candidate Committee, which raised or received very little funds until the official start of his campaign on Nov. 15, 2022, had the most money in the bank as of late at $22.5 million.
