All eyes are on former president Donald Trump after it was announced he raised more than $82 million from 3.2 million contributions in the first half of 2021 from his Save America PAC and his Make America Great Again PAC. All of the donations come despite being banned from Big Tech platforms and other social media sites. The period was recorded from Jan. 1 to June 30 when Trump actively criticized the Biden Administration on a number of key issues including the border, pandemic, foreign policy, and inflation.
Trump’s political committees have now raised approximately $102 million cash on hand, with the average amount being $25.63 per donation. These PACs usually have a $5,000 donation limit per donor per year but there are few restrictions on how the money can be spent. With all of that money sitting in the bank, people have wondered if he’s going to use it to influence others or himself. PAC donations can also be used to pay for travel, events, advisers, ad campaigns, and supporting candidates, but cannot be used to finance a presidential campaign.
“To me, the $64,000 question is how much money he’s going to spend on primaries. Is he going to save it for himself, or is he going to go completely nuts on five different House races and spend a tremendous amount of money?” Asked Dan Eberhart, a major Republican donor and Trump critic.
While the former president has teased campaign finance laws keeping him from talking, Trump has not made any official announcements for office yet. He said he is currently focused on helping the Republican Party take back the House and Senate majorities in the 2022 midterms, but hinted that his supporters would be “very happy” with his ultimate decision.
Never in history has a former president banked nine figures worth of donations in the first six months of the year. The support has been so overwhelming that Trump’s political organizations have raised nearly as much as the Republican National Committee.
Even former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said they are looking at what comes next, which will be helping Virginia’s GOP candidate Glenn Youngkin flip the state from blue to red. “We’re going to see a red wave in Virginia come this November. And quite frankly, it’s going to astonish a lot of people in Washington, D.C., and around the country,” he said.
Meadows also revealed he and other Cabinet members would be meeting with the former president Thursday night at his golf club in New Jersey. He said they wouldn’t be making those arrangements to meet with him if they weren’t making “plans to move forward in a real way, with President Trump at the head of that ticket.”
This has come close to one of the most official announcements from a Trump insider about a 2024 run. Meadows described Trump as being “fully engaged, highly focused, and remaining on task” about presidential prospects and that he’s been working with Speaker Newt Gingrich on a real American movement. He said it was critical that it all “comes together,” despite being held back by certain campaign rules and regulations.
Even though Trump has been out of office for several months, he remains more popular than ever with the Republican Party. An overwhelming majority of voters have also suggested they would elect him again if he runs for office, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis coming in as the second candidate among many others. For now, there have been no expectations or announcements but it’s clear that Trump has no intention of going away.
