Washington – Donald Trump is the one boasting about the personal money he’s putting into his presidential bid, but in the early weeks of October, it was Hillary Clinton chipping in more of her own resources.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
New Federal Election Commission reports show Clinton herself offset $87,000 worth of campaign expenses in the first 19 days of the month. Trump, meanwhile, covered about $33,000 of his political costs.
Faced with a striking cash disadvantage, the Republican nominee is taking steps to infuse his campaign with new money. Spokeswoman Jessica Ditto said Friday that Trump wired an additional $10 million to his campaign.
Trump has repeatedly said during rallies and media interviews that he would spend $100 million of his own money, and maybe “much more.” Counting the new gift, he is about $34 million short of his oft-repeated promise.
“He will continue to make investments into his campaign, including in these last 11 days,” Trump’s campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said Friday morning on Fox News. “He has said publicly many times he is in for $100 million, and he is happy to invest in his campaign.”
The FEC reports filed Thursday show he could use the cash: As of last week, Clinton and her Democratic partners had $153 million in the bank, more than double the resources on the Trump side.
Trump, a New York businessman who says he is worth billions of dollars, invested heavily throughout his GOP primary race. Then, during the general election, he slowed his personal cash infusion to about $2 million per month.
In all, he has put in about $56 million of his own money. The latest donation, which is not yet noted in public documents, would bring that to $66 million.
His contribution shrinks when accounting for about $9 million in campaign cash that has returned to his family and businesses. That money has largely gone to the holding company of his private jet, but the campaign also paid for rent at Trump Tower, catering at his restaurants and even the Trump Ice bottled water that has popped up at his events.
Trump gave about $31,000 through the first 19 days of October, the period covered in the filing released Thursday, all of which went to cover rent and payroll. Trump also gave an additional $2,600 on Oct. 20, other filings show.
Donald still has to put $34 million where his mouth is. I hope the $10 million isn’t from the Trump Foundation.