Linda McMahon, the leader of President Trump’s Small Business Administration, sent $5 million to a super PAC backing his reelection effort.
Former President Donald Trump is closing the gap on President Joe Biden’s cash advantage but still trails by a significant margin.
Between April 15 and April 20, several political committees associated with President Donald Trump filed public disclosure statements with the Federal Election Commission, which provided a full picture of the former president’s political finances.
In sum, the seven FEC-registered groups connected to President Trump’s reelection campaign had about $110.3 million in cash on hand at the end of March. That is significantly less than the $187.6 million President Biden could access at the same time.
The Republican National Committee, now more closely tied to the Trump campaign than ever before, will likely aid President Trump’s cause, too.
Nevertheless, it ended March with about half as much cash as the Democratic National Committee.
According to the party committees’s most recent FEC filings, the DNC closed out March with about $45.2 million in the bank. The RNC reported $21.6 million in cash on hand.
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Major Donations
FEC records show that most of the funding for Save America and MAGA PAC comes from one entity: the super PAC Make America Great Again Inc.
Federal records show that it transferred $15 million to Save America during the first three months of 2024.
In March, MAGA Inc. received numerous donations of more than $1 million.
The biggest check came from Linda McMahon. She sent MAGA Inc. $5 million in March, according to FEC records.
Ms. McMahon was the administrator of the Small Business Administration from February 2017 until April 2019. She is the wife of TKO Group Holdings founder Vince McMahon and is now the chair of the nonprofit America First Policy Institute.
In addition to serving in the Trump administration, Ms. McMahon was also the chairwoman of a Trump-aligned super PAC, America First Action, in 2019 and a major financial sponsor of that group.
Another key Trump supporter, Robert Bigelow, sent about $4.2 million to MAGA Inc. in March. Mr. Bigelow, the founder, president, and program manager of North Las Vegas, Nevada, company Bigelow Aerospace, gave the PAC $5 million in February.
A corporation, RAI Services, also sent $2.5 million to MAGA Inc.
RAI is part of British tobacco company British American Tobacco PLC.
According to recent FEC filings, RAI is a key sponsor of groups backing Republicans in House and Senate races.
Ms. McMahon and Mr. Bigelow were co-chairs of a $50.5 million fundraising eventfor the Trump campaign on April 8.
A new joint fundraising committee called Trump 47 Committee will split the money between the RNC, Trump campaign entities, and various Republican Party causes.
As for Trump 47, the committee’s April 15 FEC disclosure showed both Mr. Bigelow and Ms. McMahon contributed more than $800,000 to the committee in March.
Other attendees of the April 8 fundraiser sent $600,000 or more to the committee: Carol Adams, Jose “Pepe” Fanjul, Harold Hamm, Robert “Woody” Johnson, Kelly Loeffler, Jaime McCourt, Robert Mercer, Geoffrey Palmer, John Paulson, Phil Ruffin, Jeff Sprecher, Kelcy Warren, and Stephen Wynn.
Legal Expenses
President Trump is using millions of campaign dollars to defend himself in civil and criminal proceedings.
On April 23, President Trump will appear in a Manhattan courtroom as a civil trial related to so-called hush money payments enters its second week. That trial is just one of many the former president will face in the coming months.
The April 15 and April 20 FEC disclosures revealed two political action committees closely linked to the former president continue to cover most of the legal expenses tied to those prosecutions.
President Trump calls the trials a form of election interference and says the cases are politically motivated.
In March, President Trump’s leadership PAC Save America covered most of the legal bills, paying various firms $3.7 million for legal costs.
Over the first three months of 2024, another committee—Make America Great Again PAC—spent about $1.8 million to pay lawyers and law firms.
All told, the political accounts linked to President Trump paid about $16.1 million in legal expenses through the first three months of the election year.
President Trump said the New York case will sideline him from the campaign trail for its duration. He planned to appear in North Carolina on April 21, but the event was canceled due to weather.
His next event, according to his campaign’s website, isn’t until May 11.
Meanwhile, President Biden is visiting states critical to presidential politics.
On April 23, he is speaking in Tampa, Florida, about abortion.
The Sunshine State will consider a ballot initiative concerning abortion access in November. The previous week, he hit multiple sites in Pennsylvania.
As the Trump campaign spends on its legal defense, the Biden campaign is splurging on advertising.
According to political advertising tracking firm AdImpact, the Biden campaign and allied groups have reserved $132.4 million in ads as of April 5. Pro-Trump groups booked about $265,000.
