Former President Donald Trump, in a striking move, he has issued a demand that down-ballot GOP candidates using his name, image, and likeness in their campaign fundraising efforts contribute a portion of their donations to his own campaign coffers. The edict has been relayed through a letter sent out by Trump’s senior campaign managers.
According to the reports, Trump’s campaign managers, Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, have directed vendors and down-ballot candidates to remit “a minimum of 5% of all fundraising solicitations to Trump National Committee JFC,” as mentioned in the memo. This mandate is not restricted to any specific fundraising channel but includes all forms of solicitations such as house files, prospecting vendors, and advertising. The letter states, “Any split that is higher than 5% will be seen favorably by the RNC and President Trump’s campaign and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations.”
The demand comes at a time when Trump’s fundraising efforts, though still significant, are lagging behind those of President Joe Biden. This new strategy appears to be part of a broader approach to bolster Trump’s war chest, as he confronts considerable legal expenses due to ongoing civil and criminal cases against him.
Despite the claim from Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez that the directive aims to protect small-dollar donors from fraudulent entities leveraging Trump’s name and likeness. Candidates who have been endorsed and given the Trump Seal of Approval are also allowed to have one upsell request personally signed by Trump, with a 1% split on these upsells.
The letter is explicit in its warnings, emphasizing that vendors will be held accountable for their clients’ adherence to the guidelines. It reads, “Any vendor whose clients ignore the guidelines mentioned above will be held responsible for their clients’ actions,” with further stipulations that repeated violations could lead to the suspension of business relationships with Trump National Committee JFC, including list rental agreements.
Trump’s family influence is also apparent, with Lara Trump, his daughter-in-law, recently installed as co-chair of the RNC, she’s perfectly willing to let her father-in-law raid the committee’s accounts.
Relevant articles:
– Trump Demands Cut of Down-Ballot Republican Donations – The former president’s campaign sent a letter to vendors demanding a cut of any candidate donations that use his name or likeness
– Trump campaign looks to cash in on Republican candidates using his image, asks for 5% of donations, New York Post, Wed, 17 Apr 2024 21:38:00 GMT
– Donald Trump demands cut of campaign funds from candidates using his image, The Times, Tue, 16 Apr 2024 15:00:00 GMT
– Trump operation asks Republicans who use him for fundraising to share the haul, AOL, Thu, 18 Apr 2024 01:28:00 GMT