Donald Trump’s presidential campaign reported to the Federal Election Commission that they raises slightly over $3.1 million in May. Trump has loaned his campaign over $2.2 million, and his campaign at the end of May reported just having shy of $1.3 million cash on hand.
Trump’s fundraising haul compared to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) who suspended his campaign on May 3rd is dismal. Cruz reported raising $2.6 million in May. Let that sink in. Cruz after leaving the presidential race raised more money than Donald Trump did. He also has more cash on hand with $6.8 million.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is blowing Trump’s socks off in terms on fundraising. Clinton raised $19.5 in May. Clinton has a stockpile of $42.4 million cash on hand going into the general election with Trump.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) raised just shy of $15.7 million in May. Sanders who trails Clinton in terms of delegates, but who has pledged to stay in the race until the Democratic National Convention has $9.2 million on hand.
Some interesting things to note with Trump’s disbursements in May, they spent:
- $693,995.53 5o Ace Specialities for campaign swag.
- $543,150.16 on website development and digital consulting with Giles-Parscale.
- $423,347.70 for facilities and catering at the Mar-A-Lago Club a facility owned by Donald Trump. No other event rental came close to that expense in the month of May.
- $29,715.42 for facility rental/catering at Trump International Golf Club.
- $35,845.00 for facility rental/catering at Trump National Golf Club.
- $125,080.31 at Trump Restaurants for rent and utilities.
- $72,800 at Trump Tower Commercial for rent and utilities.
To put these numbers into perspective, Donald Trump’s campaign spent more on swag than they did campaign staff. They spent more for The Mar-A-Lago Club than they did payroll (non-consultants). They also spent more on disbursements to Trump-owned businesses than they did campaign personnel
Trump is going to be dependent on fundraising from the Republican Party in order to compete as he is woefully behind. His campaign expenditures are also questionable, and his campaign personnel is top-heavy with highly paid consultants at the expense of building a significant ground game.
Update: Apparently I missed some Trump-owned businesses that campaign disbursements went to in the month of May. The list below doesn’t include Mar-a-Lago, but does include some of what I shared above.
Recipients of payments from Trump campaign with “Trump” in name, through May 31. Doesn’t include Mar-a-Lago/planes. pic.twitter.com/JF6skaWYGF
— Derek Willis (@derekwillis) June 21, 2016
