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Donald Trump raised $75 million less for his presidential bid than Joe Biden and now has 270,000 fewer unique donors than at the same stage of his White House campaign four years ago.
The findings, from a Financial Times analysis of federal campaign data, raise new questions about how the former president’s smaller base will allow him to survive costly trials and what the race should be like most expensive presidential election of all time.
The Trump campaign and affiliated political action committees attracted about 900,000 donors between July 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, compared to 1.17 million donors during the equivalent period of the 2020 race, according to the analysis of federal data carried out by the FT.
President Biden also opened up a huge fundraising advantage, data shows, raising $165 million in the first three months of the year, $75 million more than pro-Trump groups , which raised just under $90 million.
Biden had $146 million at the end of March and has raised $368 million this election cycle. Pro-Trump groups must provide figures by the federal deadline Saturday evening. They had $65 million in cash at the end of 2023.
These results come as both candidates ramp up their fundraising efforts with just under seven months until the November vote.
“President Trump raised more in the first quarter when he was outgoing president than Joe Biden raised in the first quarter as outgoing president this year,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. “Team Trump will continue to mobilize the resources necessary to win on November 5.”
Money remains crucial in the months-long White House elections, as candidates swing states with multimillion-dollar ad campaigns ahead of the vote. In 2020, Biden raised a record $1 billion in donations and Trump raised about $775 million, according to the nonprofit Open Secrets.
Texas businessman Roy Bailey, a top fundraiser for Ron DeSantis’ failed presidential campaign, said Biden had a “huge advantage” as president – but that coverage Trump’s total media coverage meant he didn’t need to raise as much money.
“I think he can make up for it,” said Bailey, who raised money for Trump in 2020 and will do so again in 2024. “I don’t think he needs it to win the election. . . He will have the last seven months of the year to put his foot on the metal.
Small donors – those who give $200 or less – have played a vital role in Trump’s campaigns. But many megadonors are now backing him after pouring money into Republican primary rivals such as Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race for the party’s nomination last month.
The first quarter numbers do not include some of the recent fundraisers Trump held with these big donors. On April 6, hedge fund billionaire John Paulson hosted an event that the Trump campaign said raised $50 million, reportedly the largest political fundraiser in U.S. history. Earlier in the week, Biden said he raised more than $25 million during an event with former Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
Shale oil baron Harold Hamm, who co-chaired the Paulson fundraiser, told the FT the Florida fundraiser showed Trump was “in very, very good shape” in terms of fundraising .
“With the amount of money he collected [at the Florida fundraiser] doubling what Biden had raised, even with help from Obama and Clinton – I think that says everything you need to know.
Trump has used his legal problems to raise money, but he is also spending big on his defense in four criminal trials and a civil fraud case that threatens his business empire. He was in New York court again Tuesday for a criminal trial over his payments to a porn star.
This year, Trump raised $175 million to post bail and appeal a civil trial in New York, and sold $399 worth of sneakers and $59.99 worth of Bibles.
Trump will also be able to potentially raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling shares in his recently listed media company as early as September, just weeks before the election. However, the stock’s value has fallen by two-thirds since its peak three weeks ago.
Pro-Trump groups spent more than $50 million on legal fees last year. But the former president’s best fundraising day among small donors came on Aug. 25, after he surrendered to authorities in Atlanta on felony charges that he sought to overturn the 2020 elections.
Just after his capitulation, Trump’s campaign posted his photo on T-shirts and mugs, drawing about 85,000 contributions — about 10 times more than a typical day — to bring in nearly $4.3 million.
Additional reporting by Jamie Smyth in New York
