Donald Trump has raised $75mn less for his presidential bid than Joe Biden and has 270,000 fewer unique donors now than at the same stage of his run for the White House four years ago.
The findings, from a Financial Times analysis of federal campaign data, raise new questions about how the former president’s shrunken base will sustain him through costly court cases and what is expected to be the most expensive presidential race ever.
The Trump campaign and affiliated political action committees have attracted roughly 900,000 donors from July 2023 through the first quarter of 2024, compared with 1.17mn donors in the equivalent period of the 2020 race, according to the FT’s analysis of federal data.
President Biden has also opened up a massive fundraising advantage, the data shows, raising $165mn over the first three months of the year — $75mn more than pro-Trump groups, which raised just under $90mn.
Biden had $146mn on hand at the end of March and has raised $368mn in this election cycle. Pro-Trump groups must provide numbers by a federal deadline on Saturday night. They had $65mn cash on hand at the end of 2023.
The findings come as both candidates step up their fundraising efforts with just under seven months to go before the November vote.
“President Trump raised more in Q1 when he was the incumbent president than Joe Biden has raised in Q1 as the incumbent president this year,” said Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt. “Team Trump will continue to raise the resources necessary to win on November 5th.”
Money remains crucial in the months-long White House races, as candidates blitz swing states with multimillion-dollar ad campaigns before the vote. In 2020, Biden raised a record $1bn in donations, and Trump hauled in about $775mn, according to the non-profit Open Secrets.
