How Much Money Donald Trump Has Spent As President

President Donald Trump'due south reelection team kicked off 2020 with what seemed like an unbeatable cash reward, boasting a massive fundraising functioning, bolstered by the joint efforts of the Republican Political party.

Fast-forward x months and they've burned through a whopping $1.iv billion of the more than than $1.6 billion raised over the last two years, struggling to go along upwards with former Vice President Joe Biden, more than what onetime President Barack Obama's reelection entrada and the Democrats had raised and spent by the end of the 2012 cycle.

By mid-October, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party reelection team were left with $223.5 one thousand thousand in the bank. The Trump campaign itself only had $43 one thousand thousand entering the final 3 weeks of the presidential ballot.

The revealing figures, released as the ii presidential candidates debated on stage Thursday night for the last fourth dimension earlier Ballot Day, came after the campaign blew through $63 one thousand thousand in the first ii weeks of October lone -- a disquisitional time when it simply brought in $44 million. The vast bulk of the money spent during that time -- virtually $45 million -- went to television and online advertising, according to the latest disclosure report filed to the Federal Ballot Commission, as Biden and pro-Biden efforts ramped upwards his ad spending.

By comparison, the Biden entrada and the Democratic Political party had a full of $331 meg in the bank by mid-October -- with the Biden campaign boasting $162 million of that.

At the debate, Trump acknowledged his Autonomous challenger has raised "tremendous amounts of money" but said "every time you raise money, deals are fabricated," a like rhetoric he has maintained during the 2016 ballot as he poured more than than $66 million of his own money into his first White House bid. Back in 2015, he said "past cocky-funding my campaign, I am not controlled past my donors, special interests or lobbyists," but later took in vi-figure donations during the general election. The president's massive reelection campaign this year, has been funded entirely by similarly small and big donors, with no contribution from the president himself.

President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Northward Coast Air aeronautical services at Erie International Airdrome on Oct. xx, 2020, in Erie, Pa.

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Trump's money fortunes have changed dramatically in simply a few months: his entrada, the Republican National Committee and their ii articulation fundraising committees started out $180 meg ahead of the Biden campaign and the Autonomous National Committee this bound.

Republican National Committee spokesperson Mike Reed, however, maintained that the Republican Party in a "very strong fiscal position," comparing Trump'southward reelection cash on hand to that of presidential campaigns from previous elections around this time, including Trump's 2016 campaign.

"Because we accept been breaking fundraising records for years, nosotros were able to build the largest ground game operation in history," Reed said in a statement to ABC News. "This is something the Democrats simply cannot match, no matter how much belatedly money they enhance."

Trump campaign spokesperson Samantha Zager also emphasized the Trump entrada had a pb over the Biden campaign on its "massive ground game, travel to key states, and ads on digital, Boob tube, and radio.

"Every bit Hillary Clinton proved when she outspent usa two-to-1 in 2016, no corporeality of money can buy the presidency -- voters take to be enthusiastic about casting their ballot for a candidate, and that's only happening for President Trump," Zager wrote in a statement to ABC News.

Merely some of the expenditures have raised eyebrows, including hundreds of millions that accept gone to declared "laissez passer-through" vendors that take been accused of masking the ultimate recipient of the money. A portion of those expenditures have been the subject of a Federal Election Commission complaint.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden speaks while President Donald Trump, shown in reflection, listens during the final presidential debate at Belmont University on October. 22, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn.

Fleck Somodevilla/Getty Images

So where has the president's coin gone?

Over the terminal two years, Trump'due south team has spent the largest portion of that cash on advertising -- more than $204 million on television and radio airtime and at least $286 one thousand thousand on various online, digital and text ads. Another meaning chunk -- $208 million -- has gone to the entrada and the Republican Party'south straight post operation, a more than traditional form of ad.

Near $ninety million was spent simply to obtain or rent donor lists. Another $21 million was spent on fundraising consulting. And another $56 million spent on entrada merchandise and donor gifts, including hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on purchasing Donald Trump Jr.'s ii books, "Triggered" and "Liberal Privilege."

Reed said the RNC's voter contact functioning, including field, data and digital spending, have been a major role of its spending, and that by the cease of the cycle, the RNC alone volition take spent $300 1000000 on those efforts. "We are knocking over four million doors a week with our two.5 meg strong volunteer army, and reaching millions more on the phones," Reed said.

More than $five 1000000 of campaign greenbacks has too gone to Trump's various hotels, resorts and other buildings over the last 2 years, according to the records. Simply in the last four months, Trump Victory, which raises money from some of Trump'south most generous donors spent nearly $900,000 at Trump-branded properties for facility rental and catering. Critics say political spending at Trump properties, including that from the president'due south own entrada, is a conflict of interest, simply the campaign and the Republican Party have maintained that there's nothing incorrect with the exercise since they pay market rates for venues and report the expenditures every bit required by law.

Another pricey line-item: legal bills. The president's team has mobilized an regular army of attorney'southward preparing for any potential postal service-Election Day legal battles, which could be costly. Over the past two years, the Trump campaign, the RNC and the shared committees have spent $41 1000000 on legal matters, including battling several big-name legal challenges such as special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and the congressional impeachment proceedings.

At least $55 one thousand thousand has been spent on payroll and other associated fees over the last two years, roughly the aforementioned amount spent on payroll by former President Barack Obama's reelection entrada in 2012. This includes more $600,000 -- or more than $24,000 a month -- to RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and $372,000 -- or roughly $xx,000 monthly -- to Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh. DNC Chairman Tom Perez receives virtually $17,500 a month, while Biden's deputy campaign manager and communications managing director Kate Bedingfield is paid about $9,000 a month.

Questions about staff payments

But it'southward hard to glean just how much some of the president's superlative team members are making. Much of the payments are shrouded in secrecy by a host of obscure LLCs that are hard to connect to specific individuals that receive payments under general descriptions similar "consulting," "services" or "research," which is common among many campaigns and groups across the alley.

For example, Trump campaign managing director Beak Stepien hasn't received directly payments from the Trump campaign, but a firm connected to him named has. Revolution Strategies received more than $310,000 from the entrada for "political consulting" over the last two years.

Stepien's predecessor, Brad Parscale, received more than than $17 million through his firm Parscale Strategy for digital and political consulting over the last 2 years, but it's unclear how much of that went into his pocket.

Parscale's firm, in detail, was subject of a FEC complaint in July, accusing the Trump campaign of obscuring nearly $170 1000000 worth of campaign spending over the terminal two years through so-called "pass through" vendors," including Parscale's firm.

In the complaint, Campaign Legal Center claimed Parscale Strategy and American Made Media Consultants -- 2 companies ready and run by campaign leadership including Parscale -- appeared to provide a diverseness of services to the entrada, simply actually served as "immigration house" firms that dole out contracts and payments to various subcontractors and vendors without revealing the ultimate recipients of the donor coin. The lack of disclosure of the campaign's payments to subcontractors, Entrada Legal Heart wrote in the complaint, is a violation of the FEC dominion that requires campaigns to catalog disbursements to its ultimate vendors.

President Donald Trump waves at the finish of a Make America Great Again rally every bit he campaigns in Gastonia, N.C., Oct. 21, 2020.

Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

"Trump declared his 2020 candidacy on his commencement solar day of office and has been raising money ever since," said Brendan Fischer, the director of federal reform at Campaign Legal Heart, a Washington-based nonpartisan group. "Only it is difficult to assess how the Trump campaign has burned through the money raised because it has disguised hundreds of millions of dollars of its spending."

American Fabricated Media Consultants, which was prepare up and run by campaign leadership in 2018, is the single biggest recipient of the Trump reelection effort's money, receiving much of the massive advertising and paid media expenditures -- a whopping $453 meg over the terminal two years, mostly for media placement and advertizement, including $68 million in simply the first 2 weeks of October.

On the accusations against Parscale Strategy and American Made Media Consultants, Fischer said, "This scheme flies in the face of transparency requirements mandated past federal police, and it leaves voters and donors in the dark about where the entrada'southward funds are actually going."

At the fourth dimension the complaint was filed, Parscale told ABC News that "This is just political theater 100 days out." The Trump campaign, on the part of the ii vendors and the payments, told ABC News at that fourth dimension that the entrada complies with all campaign finance laws and regulations.

It's unclear if the Federal Election Commission has taken whatsoever action on the complaint.

ABC News' Will Steakin and Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.

Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trumps-team-spent-16-billion-raised-years/story?id=73795897

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