Due to a surge in traffic, Trump’s donation page crashed in a matter of hours after Thursday’s New York hush-money guilty verdict. The former president is also heading to California next week for fundraising efforts, where the cheapest ticket costs $50,000 at an event planned on June 6. The end of the New York trial means a fresh start for Trump, who can finally get back on the campaign trail. These fundraising efforts are great for what Trump might expect in the coming period: wealthy mega-donors to finally open their wallets and get behind his campaign.
Biden’s campaign leading the fundraising race
At the end of April, President Joe Biden announced that he had $192 million in cash available as of the previous month’s end. He noted this was the largest amount any Democratic candidate has ever reported. However, this figure was approximately the same as what was reported at the end of the first quarter on March 30, indicating that the campaign was using funds as quickly as they were being gathered. Additionally, the total for April was significantly lower compared to March, when the president’s campaign and the DNC reported revenues exceeding $90 million.
Things changed in April
In Florida, Trump in April held his largest fundraising event. In a single day, his campaign confirmed raising more than $50 million, setting a new single-event fundraising record, almost double that of Biden at an event that took place in New York days before Trump’s Florida event. This event alone contributed the most to Trump’s monthly efforts, raising a total of $76 million. Biden’s campaign raised $51 million in April, $24 million less than Trump, who is still waiting for support from the largest conservative megadonors.
Trump raises more money than Biden in a single day
After the recent guilty verdict, Trump’s campaign team reported an impressive fundraising achievement, gathering $52.8 million in just 24 hours. This substantial sum is a significant spike in donations, surpassing more than two-thirds of the $76 million raised throughout the entire month of April, a month when Trump’s fundraising first exceeded that of Biden by collecting $76 million compared to Biden’s $51 million.
“That’s more than $2 million an hour,” the campaign said in a statement on Friday night. More than one-third of the donors were new, according to the statement.
To put this in perspective, this rapid influx of funds greatly outshone the $7.1 million raised following Trump’s arrest in Georgia. The arrest was linked to charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election and included a highly publicized mug shot at the Fulton County jail. This latest fundraising total far surpasses the amount raised during that earlier incident.
The best is yet to come
According to our report from earlier this week, the best for Trump in regards to fundraising efforts is yet to come. Conservative megadonors have long hesitated to open their wallets, mostly due to Trump’s open legal cases in four states as well as uncertainty about how much of the campaign cash Trump will use to pay for legal cases. In recent weeks, numerous individuals have confirmed their commitment to financially support the ex-president.
In 2020, casino magnate Miriam Adelson and her late husband Sheldon contributed approximately $90 million to Trump. Sources close to Adelson, as reported by Politico, indicate that she intends to give even more than that amount this time. Additionally, according to the Financial Times, Bill Ackman, who previously backed Trump’s Republican rivals like Nikki Haley in this year’s primaries, is expected to publicly declare his support through X.
Other megadonors
Steve Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, has decided to support and finance Trump despite previously advocating for new leadership. Meanwhile, activist investor Nelson Peltz, who had second thoughts about supporting Trump after the Capitol riot, hosted the former president at his Florida home in March. At this gathering, Elon Musk was also present and has since been in regular contact with Trump, even planning dinner events to gather support against Biden. Additionally, tech investors David Sacks and Chamath Palihapitiya, famous for their “All In” podcast, are setting up the Silicon Valley fundraiser for Trump scheduled for next week.