ORLANDO, Florida (AP) – “Trump needs you,” begged him for a fundraising email.
“President Trump’s legacy is in your hands,” another asked.
Others announced “Miss Me yet?” T-shirts with Donald Trump’s smiling face.
While some Republicans quarrel with the former president’s fierce hug, the organizations in charge of raising money for the party participate in it. The Republican National Committee and the arms of the Congressional party campaign are eager to reclaim Trump’s appeal with small donors ahead of next year’s midterm elections, when the Republican Party hopes to regain control of at least a quarter of Congress.
But there is a problem: Trump himself. In his first speech since leaving office, the former president encouraged loyalists to give it directly, basically avoiding traditional groups that raise money for Republican Party candidates.
“There’s only one way to contribute to our efforts to elect Republican conservatives to America First and, in turn, to grow up again in America,” Trump said Sunday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando , Florida. “And that’s through Save America PAC and donaldjtrump.com.”
The comment was especially notable because Trump is generally reluctant to ask for money in person. This is the last salvation in the battle to shape the future of the Republican Party, with Trump making it clear that he maintains no allegiance to the party’s traditional fundraising operation as he tries to consolidate power.
This could help him add to a war chest he was already commanding, aiding his effort to influence the party. Save America has more than $ 80 million in cash, including $ 3 million raised after the CPAC speech, according to one person familiar with the total.
Some of that money could help Trump resolve scores with members of Congress in functions that have crossed him. In his Sunday speech, Trump read aloud the names of all Republicans who voted against him and called for his defeat. He has already approved a Republican challenger to Republican Party Representative Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio, who voted to accuse him by the revolt of the U.S. Capitol.
“Trump’s call to give it directly shows that the party’s normal organs … will have to fight for its relevance in the 2022 cycle,” said Dan Eberhart, a longtime Republican donor who has donated large sums. to all three as well as to the Trump campaign.
Bill Palatucci, a member of the New Jersey RNC, called Trump’s comments “unpleasant” and “counterproductive” and expressed concern that the Republican Party would suffer more losses, such as the second round of elections in the United States. Georgia Senate in January, if they don’t work together.
“Listen, it’s a free country. Anyone can form a federal PAC or a super PAC and there is always a lot of competition for dollars. But the step is also to tell people not to give to the important committees of the national party, “said Palatucci. “The former president must have the will to look beyond his own self-interest.”
The RNC and spokesmen for the House and Senate campaign committees declined to comment. But others tried to minimize the apparent tensions. They noted, for example, that Trump is scheduled to speak at the RNC Spring Donor Shelter (a major fundraising source) in April in Palm Beach.
And Trump said in recent days to party president Ronna McDaniel that he wants to continue raising funds for RNC, according to a person informed about the conversation who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to reveal private talks.
Before making money on Sunday, the Trump team quietly updated its fundraising files. They turned their Save America leadership PAC into an entity that can also support other candidates and turned their main Donald J. Trump for the president’s campaign committee into Make America Great Again, or MAGAPac. The money raised through Trump’s website is now earmarked for Save America JFC, a joint fundraising agreement between the two.
Although Trump left office as a deeply unpopular figure, he remains a powerful attraction for small-dollar base donors, a reality that has been very clear in fundraising resources over the past week.
Over the course of a single hour last Thursday, the RNC, both the Republican Party Congress campaign committees and the Republican State Leadership Committee, which is trying to elect Republicans for state office, attacked supporters with urgent appeals to raise funds that included urgent references to Trump.
And the Republican National Senate Committee warned this week that its “limited edition” T-shirts with Trump were almost sold out.
Regardless of Trump’s next move, the Republican Party is unlikely to remove him from his sales pitch soon.
“Our digital fundraising strategy is simple: raise as much money as possible,” said Andrew Romeo, RSLC spokesman.