Trump Trial Helps Fuel His First Fundraising Win Over Biden

Being a defendant in Manhattan criminal court might be bad news for Donald Trump’s legal fate. But it has been good for his campaign coffers.

On April 15, the start of Trump’s New York hush-money trial, the former president’s campaign raised more than $361,000 in individual donations—better than most days in recent weeks. That fundraising contributed to more than $76 million in total contributions last month, according to his campaign and new data.

“What I’ve been FORCED to endure would make any patriotic American SICK,” complained one email on April 15, among a flurry of fundraising appeals that helped fuel his campaign. “So I’m humbly asking for you to PLEASE stand with me today.”

Trump is revving up his fundraising with fewer than six months left until the general election, according to figures provided by his campaign. Trump’s trial has helped drive his first monthly win over President Biden, with his campaign and related committees raising about $25 million more than Biden’s last month, new data show.

Still, Biden appeared to have more money left to spend than his Republican challenger, reporting more than $192 million on hand at the end of April—comparable to his total from a month earlier. The Trump campaign didn’t provide the total cash on hand for all its committees in April, but it had at least $96.8 million between its campaign committee, a joint fundraising committee and the Republican National Committee, filings with the Federal Election Commission showed. That doesn’t include a supportive super PAC that already spent more than $66 million on his legal-related expenses. (New data show Trump spent at least $3 million more in legal fees in April.)

Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records for allegedly covering up a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors say Trump and his co-conspirators sought to silence Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to stop her from going public with her story of a sexual encounter with the former president. Trump has denied the charges.

Campaign fundraising doesn’t guarantee a victory come Election Day. Trump remains ahead of Biden in most battleground-state polls, and Biden has faced dissatisfaction from progressives on his administration’s handling of the situation in Gaza. However, a potential guilty verdict in Trump’s trial could sour some of his supporters.

Both candidates have recently ramped up high-profile fundraising events. Trump pulled in $50 million from an April event at the Palm Beach, Fla., home of billionaire hedge-fund manager John Paulson. Biden took in more than $25 million from a late-March fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall in New York, where he was joined by former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

Not all of that money is reflected in Monday’s filings. Both candidates employ a web of affiliated committees and include donations to those as well as money raised by their respective parties when announcing fundraising totals. Some of those committees report activity just once per quarter.

Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s campaign committee ended April with $10.2 million in cash. His committee raised $10.7 million during April, $4.2 million more than it spent. Just over $8 million of those receipts came via contributions from Kennedy’s running mate, California environmental lawyer Nicole Shanahan.

Another independent, Cornel West, saw his campaign’s available cash drop to less than $19,000 at the end of April.

Write to Jack Gillum at [email protected] and Anthony DeBarros at [email protected]