Donald Trump's fundraising juggernaut slows as other Republicans gain

[July 16, 2022]  By Jason Lange and Alexandra Ulmer

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Former President Donald Trump's online fundraising has slowed in recent months, a financial disclosure on Friday showed, adding to doubts over the firmness of his grip on the Republican Party.

Trump's political committees raised about $18 million between April and June, about $2 million less than in the prior three months, according to a report by WinRed, the Republican donation processing portal.

WinRed's latest reports have shown Trump's money-raising falling in seven of the last nine months, with tiny gains in May and June.

Trump's decline, seen both among small and large donors, contrasts with fundraising growth across the rest of the Republican Party, as campaigns heat up ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm elections, when Republicans hope to seize control of Congress.

After bringing in more than $300,000 a day in online contributions in September, Trump's political committees have raised around $200,000 a day over the last four months.

The former leader's diverging financial path from the rest of the party could be a sign of waning enthusiasm for him, said Republican strategist Mike DuHaime.

While Trump regularly hints he will run for president in 2024, about a quarter of Republicans do not think he should, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted June 7-8.

"There is definitely Trump fatigue," said DuHaime, adding that Trump's failure to declare he will run for president in 2024 could be dulling the urgency of his fundraising appeals relative to Republican congressional candidates working to unseat Democrats this November. "Donors care about future elections, not past elections."

Former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during his speech during a rally at the Iowa States Fairgrounds in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., October 9, 2021. REUTERS/Rachel Mummey/File Photo

Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said Trump was "raising money at an unparalleled pace" and that "any suggestion otherwise is just a tired case of bias narrative peddling by the Fake News."

No recent president has raised money after leaving office as aggressively as Trump.

His main political organization, Save America, had more than $100 million in the bank on May 31, according to the committee's most recent disclosure to the Federal Election Commission.

But his fundraising juggernaut, which took in about a fifth of all contributions made to Republicans through WinRed in June 2021, accounted for only about a tenth in June of this year.

Trump, still the Republican Party's dominant powerbroker, continues to top national polls among his party's possible 2024 presidential candidates.

But in recent weeks, other potential contenders have raised their profiles while Trump has been the focus of a congressional probe into the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol by the former leader's supporters.

Last month, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has a political war chest similar in size to Trump's, had more support than Trump among likely Republican voters for New Hampshire's 2024 presidential primary contest, according to a University of New Hampshire poll.

(Reporting by Jason Lange in Washington and Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Editing by William Mallard)

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