In response to Donald Trump ensuring his legal bills get paid before the RNC gets a cut, DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd released the following statement: 

“Only a con man and grifter like Donald Trump would be so brazen as to take campaign donors’ money to pay his mounting legal bills before the financially strapped RNC even gets a cut. His campaign and the RNC are already in financial disarray, and Trump is only making their never-ending problems worse by turning his fundraising operation into a begging cup for his legal debts. It’s admittedly a hard pitch to ask donors to give to Trump’s flailing, off-the-rails disaster of a campaign, but Trump’s no stranger to swindling people out of their money to help himself first. His selfish grifting to pay his debts is just guaranteeing that Republicans will keep putting up horrendous fundraising numbers while losing election after election.”

NEW: Donald Trump is ensuring that his mega-wealthy donors are paying his legal bills before the RNC sees a cent. 

Associated Press: “Trump’s invite to major donors prioritizes the committee paying his legal bills over the RNC”

“Donald Trump’s new joint fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee directs donations to his campaign and a political action committee that pays the former president’s legal bills before the RNC gets a cut, according to a fundraising invitation obtained by The Associated Press.

“The unorthodox diversion of funds to the Save America PAC makes it more likely that Republican donors could see their money go to Trump’s lawyers, who have received at least $76 million over the last two years to defend him against four felony indictments and multiple civil cases. Some Republicans are already troubled that Trump’s takeover of the RNC could shortchange the cash-strapped party.

“Trump has invited high-dollar donors to Palm Beach, Florida, for an April 6 fundraiser that comes as his fundraising is well behind President Joe Biden and national Democrats. The invitation’s fine print says donations to the Trump 47 Committee will first be used to give the maximum amount allowed under federal law to Trump’s campaign. Anything left over from the donation next goes toward a maximum contribution to Save America, and then anything left from there goes to the RNC and then to state political parties.”

“Representatives for the Trump campaign did not respond to messages seeking comment.

“Trump’s handpicked leadership team for the RNC includes his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, who is the committee’s co-chair, and Chris LaCivita, who serves effectively as one of two campaign managers for the Trump campaign and is now also taking on a chief of staff role at the RNC.

“Lara Trump in February said she thought Republican voters would like to see the RNC pay Trump’s legal fees.”

“Before Trump was a candidate, the RNC was paying some of his legal bills for cases in New York that began when he was president, The Washington Post reported. Former Chair Ronna McDaniel, who was ousted this month, said in 2022 that the RNC would stop paying once Trump became a candidate.

“The new arrangement doesn’t direct RNC funds to lawyers, but it ensures that when checks are written to the new combined Republican campaign, Trump’s campaign and Save America get paid first.”

Trump and the RNC are in financial disarray after putting up disastrous fundraising numbers.

Associated Press: “Trump’s political operation is struggling to catch up to Biden on fundraising and organization. His main campaign account and the Save America PAC reported raising a combined $15.9 million in February and ended the month with more than $37 million on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday night.”

“Biden’s campaign, meanwhile, said his political operation raised $53 million last month and ended February with $155 million on hand. That includes Biden’s joint fundraising with the Democratic National Committee. … His main campaign account raised $21 million in February, according to its latest filing with the FEC, and ended the month with $71 million on hand.”

Politico: “The Republican National Committee raised $10.6 million last month, a total that is unlikely to help the party cut into Democrats’ massive fundraising advantage heading into the general election campaign.”

Washington Post: “Trump lags behind Biden in campaign cash reserves while legal bills mount”

Fox News: “Democrats hold vast fundraising advantage as Republicans face cash problems, disarray in crucial swing states”

“According to year-end reports filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this week, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) holds nearly three times the cash on hand reported by the Republican National Committee (RNC), and brought in nearly three times as much fundraising in the final month of 2023.

“The RNC reported its worst fundraising year since 2013 raising just $87.2 million in 2023, and starting 2024 with just over $8 million in cash on hand. If adjusted for inflation, the RNC’s fundraising was last this low in 1993 — before the 2002 McCain Feingold Act restricted political committee fundraising from corporations and capped donations from individuals.”