Donald Trump spent $4.9 million on legal fees in March and has just $6.8 million left within the accounts he used to fund his lawyers, leaving him cash-strapped as legal costs mount, in keeping with campaign finance filings .
That’s forcing Trump, a criminal defense attorney in an ongoing trial in Manhattan, to search out other sources of cash to cover the rising costs of his legal battles. Trump could try to boost more cash from donors, ask the Republican National Committee to cover the prices or pay the fees from his own wealth. The RNC has said it can not pay Trump’s legal fees.
So far, Trump has paid lawyers for Save America, a leadership political motion committee that may accept money from political donors. Save America has spent greater than $62 million on legal fees since January 2023.
Save America ended March with money readily available of about $4 million. She may additionally ask Trump’s allied super PAC to refund the remaining $2.8 million in donations it received from Save America in 2022.
Trump’s legal troubles make him different from all previous candidates for the presidency. He has already been accused in three separate cases of sexual abuse, defamation and financial fraud in reference to the valuation of his assets. He also faces 4 other criminal charges, including two alleging he conspired to overturn the 2020 presidential election. His first criminal trial began last week on allegations that he falsified business records to hide a hush money payment to a porn actress before the 2016 election.
Since securing the Republican nomination, Trump has sought to dent the financial advantage of President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party, whose combined war chest of $192 million at the tip of March is twice as large as his own. But his ongoing legal disputes proceed to place a strain on his coffers.
Trump’s allied super-political motion committee Make America Great Again Inc. has raised $14 million and spent $6.3 million, in keeping with the most recent Federal Election Commission filings. Campaign finance laws prohibit this group from directly funding Trump’s bills.
Linda McMahon, who led the Small Business Administration throughout the first two years of Trump’s term, donated $5 million to MAGA Inc., while real estate and aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow donated $4.2 million. The super PAC also received $50,000 from a neighborhood PAC of the International Brotherhood Electrical Workers union in New Jersey.
