The battle is lost. The Supreme Court and the electoral college have spoken. Even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, so adept at redrawing the rules for political gain, has acknowledged that Donald Trump will not be the next president.
But the money flowing into Trump’s political coffers suggests that defeat will not lead the next to become a former president in the political shadows.
Trump has been on a fundraising campaign since the election, quickly bringing in a staggering $ 200 million or more behind his false claims that the vote was rigged.
His campaign bombarded supporters with emails and text messages (up to 30 a day), asking for donations to a fighting fund to challenge the outcome. But with the election resolved, it’s not where the money is going.
Most of the cash goes to Save America, an organization formed as a leadership political action committee (CAP) shortly after the election. Leadership Pacs were designed to allow individuals to raise money in support of a favored candidate and Trump cannot legally use the proceeds to directly fund a candidacy for a position, such as another four-year presidential candidacy.
But Brendan Fischer, a campaign finance specialist at the Campaign Legal Center, said Trump’s fundraising was unprecedented and shows unscathed political ambition.
“I can’t think of any other president who has created a leadership PAC immediately after losing the election and started fundraising furiously. This is completely, utterly unique,” he said.
“I think it will basically be the vehicle for the post-Trump White House political operation.”
Trump raised the money in a large number of calls for donations to what was billed as the “official election defense fund” without clearly mentioning Save America. An aggressive sales pitch was built around the president’s false claims that the election was rigged, even when one legal challenge after another ended.
“We need YOUR HELP to DEFEND the integrity of our choices,” an email said.
Another email contained the subject line: “The count results were BOGUS.”
The money was flooded, but most will not go at all to fight the result of an election that is already resolved. Some were used to pay off Trump’s campaign debt and 25 cents go directly to the Republican party. The rest is paid to Save America.
“We would expect there to be more than $ 100 million in the leading Pac account right now,” Fischer said. “It simply came to our notice then. That’s a lot of money, a lot more than any other leadership Pac has achieved. ”
Fischer said this is an indication that Trump does not plan to quietly retire from the political scene to write his memoirs.
“The creation of his Pac leadership is certainly an indication that Trump plans to remain very active in politics and aims to remain a major political actor,” he said.
“Because leadership PACs are fluidly regulated, it could use the funds not only to keep campaign staff on the payroll, but also to benefit financially. He could use the Pac leadership to pay a salary, to pay a salary to family members. There are so many things you can do about it. “
Jennifer Victor, an associate professor of political science at George Mason University, said the smart decision would be for Trump to use the money to fund the election of loyal politicians to keep Trumpism alive.
“Is he smart enough as a political operator to use that money to build essentially a broad coalition in which he is the center and destination of the money that can strengthen his political position? It’s hard to say why his political movement so far has been so centered around him, “he said.
“I should have an interest in building the Republican party around Trumpism, which has been happening quite naturally in recent years. But to make it a permanent feature of the Republican party, it should use the political capital that it has been built around his name for the benefit of the party, which means giving it to other candidates. “
Victor said this created a headache for the Republican party leadership if he hoped to go beyond Trump.
“He will not only be a past president and candidate, but a candidate who won the second highest vote of all American candidates ever, second only to Joe Biden. So he has that huge fan base. At the same time, he has always challenged the democratic norms and the norms of the republican party, ”he said.
Then there’s Trump’s expressed desire to run for president again in four years.
“Save America can’t be used to support the Trump campaign, but there are several ways it could be used to lay the groundwork for a candidacy for office in 2024,” Fischer said.
“Probably where it will be most useful is to fund the Trump campaign in support of another candidate. You may pay rallies in support of another candidate. It can be used to pay for ads that appear to appear regardless of the candidate you are supporting. “
This could include funding from one of your own children. Speculation is already revolving around the possibility of Ivanka Trump running in the U.S. Senate in Florida.
All of this maintains the president’s political profile and influence in the Republican Party, mostly because he has proven adept at turning other people’s campaign events into de facto Trump rallies.
What Trump cannot use with donations is resolving the legal and financial issues he faces when he leaves the White House, which could hamper future political ambitions.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is leading a criminal investigation into Trump’s trade relations. New York State Attorney General Letitia James is leading a civil investigation after President’s attorney Michael Cohen told Congress that Trump inflated the value of his assets to secure bank loans and then reduced them by reduce taxes.
Investigations were recently expanded to examine the consulting fees that could have been allocated to President Ivanka’s daughter. She responded to the news of the investigation by calling her politically motivated harassment.
Trump loses protection against criminal prosecution when he leaves office. While he claims to have the power to pardon himself before leaving the White House, any such move would only apply to federal crimes, not to charges filed by New York or any other state.
The president also faces large debt repayments. Trump has personally secured about $ 420 million in business debts, which will have to be repaid in the coming years, according to the New York Times.
Most of these debts are with Deutsche Bank. Last month, Reuters reported that the bank was trying to sever ties with the president.
The Trump Organization, the president’s umbrella group currently overseen by his two children, owes approximately $ 340 million to Deutsche Bank. The loans, contrary to Trump’s properties, will begin to mature in two years.