How To Contribute To Trump 2020 Campaign

Pressure On State And Local Officials

As the Trump campaign’s lawsuits were repeatedly rejected in court, Trump personally communicated with Republican local and state officials in at least three states, including state legislators, attorneys general, and governors who had supported him in the general election and continued to support him. He pressured them to overturn the election results in their states by recounting votes, throwing out certain votes, or getting the state legislature to replace the elected Democratic slate of Electoral College members with a Republican slate of electors chosen by the legislature. In late November, he personally phoned Republican members of two county electoral boards in Michigan, trying to get them to reverse their certification of the result in their county. He then invited members of the Michigan state legislature to the White House, where they declined his suggestion that they choose a new slate of electors. He repeatedly spoke to the Republican governor of Georgia and the secretary of state, demanding that they reverse their state’s election results, threatening them with political retaliation when they did not, strongly criticizing them in speeches and tweets, and demanding that the governor resign.

Gsa Delays Certifying Biden As President

Although all major media outlets called the election for Biden on November 7, the head of the , Trump appointee , refused for over two weeks to certify Biden as the president-elect. Without formal GSA certification or “ascertainment” of the winner of the election, the official transition process was delayed. On November 23, Murphy acknowledged Biden as the winner and said the Trump administration would begin the formal transition process. Trump said he had instructed his administration to “do what needs to be done” but did not concede, and indicated he intended to continue his fight to overturn the election results.

Notable Expenditures And Allegations Of Grifting

Trump properties

In June 2018, ProPublica reported that Trump Organization properties had received “at least $16.1 million…from his campaign, Republican organizations, and government agencies” since late 2015. In October 2019, OpenSecrets found that total spending on Trump properties had increased to $16.8 million even when just considering payments made by the Trump campaign and other Republican political campaigns and PACs .

During the first three months of 2017, the Trump 2020 campaign reported spending $6.3 million, of which nearly $500,000 was to companies owned by Trump. In the Trump 2020 campaign’s first two years , it paid more than $890,000 in rent for space in Trump Tower, while the Republican National Committee paid $225,000. As of October 2020, the campaign’s committees had directed more than $17.9 million of campaign donor money to Trump properties, while the Republican National Committee had paid $3.0 million.

Legal and compliance work

Advertisements

As of March 2019, Trump’s campaign had spent almost twice as much on Facebook and Google ads as the entire Democratic field combined.

Memorabilia

During the first three months of his presidency, his reelection campaign spent more than $4 million on memorabilia.

Money funneled through Brad Parscale

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Using A Computer For Political Activity

An uncompensated individual or group of individuals may engage in internet activities for the purpose of influencing a federal election without restriction.

This exemption applies to individuals acting with or without the knowledge or consent of a campaign or a political party committee. Possible internet activities include, but are not limited to:

• Sending or forwarding email
• Providing a hyperlink to a website
• Creating, maintaining or hosting a website and paying a nominal fee for the use of a website.

Please note that these exemptions apply regardless of whether the individual owns the computer he or she is using.

Would Trumps Support Change If He Were Charged With A Crime

The former president faces a handful of investigations, including from the Department of Justice and the U.S. House select committee on the origins of the Jan. 6 attack, a grand jury looking into potential election interference in Georgia and, most recently, an FBI probe into classified materials removed from the White House and kept at Trumps Florida estate. Some had been recovered or returned earlier this year. But when the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago last month, agents still found more than 100 classified documents and 43 empty folders with classified markings, among thousands of other official records, according to a Department of Justice list of items.

Support for Trumps candidacy in 2024 would not change much if any of these investigations result in Trump being charged with a crime, according to this poll. Sixty-five percent of Americans would oppose another run for the White House. More than six in 10 Republicans would still want to see him launch a campaign. Meanwhile, 73 percent of independents say he should not run again if he is charged.

WATCH:Legal implications of decision to appoint special master to review Trump documents

This poll is just a snapshot of the current political environment. With two months until the midterm elections and another two years until the 2024 presidential election, a lot can still change with the Republican primary field and the investigations.

Graphic by Megan McGrew

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How Can Trump Spend His Leadership Pac Funds

Fischer said Save America funds can be used for the presidents post-White House political operation to keep former campaign staff on the payroll, to fund Trumps travel and expenses when he is campaigning for other candidates, and to help finance rallies and events .

He noted that its not entirely uncommon for politicians who are out of office, but eyeing another run for office, to use leadership PACs to sustain a political operation between elections.

Campaign finance watchdogs have referred to leadership PACs as slush funds for candidates over the years because although they were intended to enable politicians to spend the funds on other candidates races, the money is often used for more personal expenses that cannot be paid for by campaign funds. This is because, as Fischer notes, the Federal Election Commission hasnt interpreted the personal use ban to apply to leadership PAC funds.

What this means is that although Trump cannot use campaign funds to pay himself or his family members excessive salaries, or to buy enough copies of Don Jr.s book to land it on the bestseller list, he might try to use leadership PAC funds for such purposes, Fischer said. The Campaign Legal Center has also pointed out instances where politicians have drawn from their leadership PACs to pay for trips to Disney World, golf excursions, Broadway tickets and luxury hotel stays.

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Republican Party Presidential Primaries

First place by first-instance vote

and caucuses of the took place in many , the , and five from February 3 to August 11, 2020, to elect most of the 2,550 delegates to send to the . Delegates to the national convention in other states were elected by the respective state party organizations. The delegates to the national convention voted on the first ballot to select as the Republican Party’s for in the , and selected as the vice-presidential nominee.

President informally launched his on February 18, 2017. He launched his reelection campaign earlier in his presidency than any of his predecessors did. He was followed by former , who announced his on April 15, 2019, and former , who declared his candidacy on August 25, 2019. Former and launched a primary challenge on September 8, 2019. In addition, businessman entered the race on May 16, 2019, but was not widely recognized as a major candidate.

In February 2019, the Republican National Committee voted to provide undivided support to Trump. Several states canceled their primaries and caucuses. Other states were encouraged to use “” or “winner-takes-most” systems to award delegates instead of using proportional allocation.

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Ending The ‘reliance’ On China And Protecting Us Manufacturing

Mr Trump first campaigned on the promise the US should put focus on its own economic interests though he has said “America First” does “not mean “America alone”.

On trade, Mr Trump has taken a hard-line stance on China, coupled with a policy to protect local manufacturers from foreign competition – and those remain the key aspects of his trade policy.

Throughout his first term, the president emphasised his work renegotiating past trade deals he says were unfair to the US – like Nafta, between the US, Canada, and Mexico – or leaving them outright – like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

On the 2016 campaign trail, he also promised to fix the US trade deficit , which, for the first time in six years did decline in 2019, though economists disagree on whether this suggests an improvement in the economy.

President Trump’s ongoing trade war with China has raised border taxes on close to $500bn of annual trade, and this year’s “phase one” deal between the two nations saw most of the tariffs remain in place.

In August, he said he wants to offer tax credits to entice US firms to move factories out of China , saying “we will end our reliance on China”.

Mr Trump has also imposed tariffs on goods from the European Union – from steel to French wine – has threatened tariffs on steel and aluminium from Brazil and Argentina, and recently re-imposed tariffs on some Canadian aluminium products.

Cancellation Of State Caucuses Or Primaries

The reported on December 19, 2018, that the had not ruled out forgoing a primary contest to protect Trump from any primary challengers. Party chairman Drew McKissick stated, “Considering the fact that the entire party supports the president, we’ll end up doing what’s in the president’s best interest.” On January 24, another Washington Examiner report indicated that the Kansas Republican Party was “likely” to scrap its presidential caucus to “save resources”.

In August 2019, the reported that the Nevada Republican Party was also contemplating canceling their caucuses, with the state party spokesman, Keith Schipper, saying it “isn’t about any kind of conspiracy theory about protecting the president … He’s going to be the nominee … This is about protecting resources to make sure that the president wins in Nevada and that Republicans up and down the ballot win in 2020.”

On September 6, both of Trump’s main challengers at the time, Bill Weld and Joe Walsh, criticized these cancellations as undemocratic. The Trump campaign and GOP officials cited the fact that Republicans canceled several state primaries when and sought a second term in and , respectively and Democrats scrapped some of their primaries when and were seeking reelection in and , respectively. Weld and Walsh were joined by Mark Sanford in a joint op-ed in on September 13, 2019 which criticized the party for cancelling those primaries.

Virginia Republicans decided to allocate delegates at the state convention.

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May 201: Launch Of First Advertising Campaign

On May 1, the campaign announced that they were spending $1.5 million on national advertisements touting Trump’s accomplishments in the first hundred days. The ad buy, which included advertisements targeted at voters who supported specific agenda items of Trump’s presidency, came approximately 42 months before election day 2020, or any other major party’s candidate declarations.FactCheck.org found several inaccuracies in the advertisement, and Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune described the 30-second advertisement as being, “stuffed with Trump’s signature misleading puffery”. Additionally, original versions of the ad showed Trump shaking hands with H. R. McMaster, an active-duty military member who was barred from participating in any political advocacy while in uniform. Subsequent airings of the advertisement substituted this clip.

On May 18, Trump hosted chairmen of the Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania state parties at the White House. Each of their states are considered to be presidential swing states. On May 25, Trump’s sons Donald Jr. and Eric, along with Eric’s wife Lara, held a series of meetings at the Washington, D.C., offices of the Republican National Committee to outline campaign strategy.

$28 Million In Trump Reelection Donations Went To The Trump Organization: Report

An estimated $2.8 million in contributions to Donald Trumps reelection campaign ended up in the coffers of his heavily indebted Trump Organization, Forbes reported Friday.

Additionally, $4.3 million raised by his campaigns joint-fundraising committee, which collected money with the Republican Party, was spent on Trumps businesses from Jan. 20, 2017, to Dec. 31, 2020, according to Forbes examination of campaign filings to the Federal Election Commission.

The committee spent $11,000 on Trump hotels days after he lost the presidential election and an additional $294,000 a week later for lodging, catering and space rental, Forbes noted.

Forbes reported mid-year in 2020 that $2.2 million in donations from his campaign alone had already been spent on Trump properties. The Washington Post reported in early December that more than $1.06 million in campaign contributions were spent on Trump businesses in just the last weeks of his race.

Trump never contributed a cent to his reelection campaign, Forbes reported.

Trump raised $76 million after his loss ostensibly to battle the presidential election results and to help the Republican candidates in the vital Senate races in Georgia but didnt spend a dime on any of it, HuffPost has reported.

He put nothing back. He didnt care, one top Republican familiar with the fundraising operation told HuffPost. He put all this money in the bank for his own legal fights.

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Database To Trace Police Misbehaviour

President Trump has touted the First Step Act as a key step he made towards criminal justice reform.

The 2018 bipartisan bill was significant, and reformed laws at the federal level, giving judges more discretion during sentencing as well as strengthening prisoner rehabilitation efforts.

Mr Trump had also promised a follow-up Second Step Act that would address employment barriers for former prisoners, though no such legislation has been proposed thus far.

During his 2016 campaign, Mr Trump branded himself as a firm advocate of law enforcement and has remained so during his presidency, most recently escalating his support of police amid the nationwide protests against racial injustice.

In June, President Trump signed an executive order introducing several police reforms, offering federal grants for improved practices, including the creation of a database to trace abuses by officers.

The president has said that controversial chokehold methods for restraining suspects should be prohibited “generally speaking”, but has not moved to enforce a ban.

Fresh From 2020 Election Big Donors Are Already Jumping Back In To Support Pro

Super PACs have already taken in tens of millions of dollars so far this year.

Fresh off one of the most expensive presidential elections in modern American history, wealthy donors from both sides of the aisle are already back pumping big checks into supporting Donald Trump and Joe Biden’s political efforts.

Campaign disclosure reports filed last week showed Team Trump’s aggressive post-White House fundraising efforts raising more than $50 million over the past six months, with more than $100 million on hand heading into the second half of the year. Trump’s post-election fundraising operation has mainly focused on small-dollar online contributions through his newly formed political action committee, Save America, and his presidential campaign committee-turned PAC, Make America Great Again PAC — both of which are limited by federal campaign regulations to contributions of $5,000 per person.

In comparison, Team Biden — which hasn’t been soliciting donations as aggressively or extensively as Trump’s multi-entity fundraising team and instead has mainly been raising money through his presidential campaign committee — reported bringing in $10 million in the first six months of the year, with $4.7 million on hand. Much of Biden’s campaign committee’s fundraising — limited by federal regulations to contributions of $2,800 per person — has also focused on small online donations.

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Donald Trump 2020 Presidential Campaign

The Donald Trump 2020 presidential campaign was an unsuccessful re-election campaign for the 2020 United States presidential election by incumbent RepublicanDonald Trump. Trump was inaugurated for his first term on January 20, 2017, and officially announced his reelection campaign on June 18, 2019.

Trump refused to accept the results he and his allies made false and disproven claims of fraud, pressured elections officials, filed dozens of lawsuits , and directly attempted to overturn the results at the county, state, and federal level. This culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol, for which Trump was impeached a second time. The day after the attack, Trump formally conceded the election without mentioning president-elect Biden by name, in a video posted on .

Researchers estimate that the rallies Trump held from June 20 through September 22 caused more than 30,000 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 and more than 700 deaths.

Fort Lee Lane Closure Scandal

On January 9, two days after nominating Stepien for the chairmanship of the New Jersey Republican Party, Christie announced that he had “lost my confidence in Bill’s judgment,” and he asked Stepien to withdraw his name from consideration. The turnaround was a result of Stepien’s work on Christie’s re-election campaign, where he became embroiled in the to the . This was enacted by Christie’s staff as political retribution toward the Mayor of Fort Lee, NJ for his failure to support Christies campaign. The closure of the Fort Lee bridge entrance caused massive delays and gridlock in New Jersey traffic including that from Fort Lee. Deputy Chief of Staff for Christie and romantically involved with Stepien, Appointee to the , and Appointee to the were all found guilty. Stepien was fired.

In the trial in September 2016 about the lanes closures, federal prosecution witness said that Stepien was aware of the lane closures as they were happening.

Stepien then received a subpoena to submit documents to the panel investigating the lane closures. In a 19-page letter sent to Reid Schar, Special Counsel to the joint Senate and Assembly committee, Stepien’s lawyer cited Stepiens privilege against compelled self-incrimination, noting that in addition to the legislative probe, a federal criminal inquiry into the lane closures was also underway.

Two months after being fired, Stepien made a “soft landing” at the data and phone bank giant , which hired him to work on sales and strategy.

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