Trump’s Truth Social merger throws curveball into presidential race

The merger agreement involving former President Trump’s Truth Social platform is the latest financial development in the White House race, which aims to close the fundraising gap with President Biden.

Despite polls showing a close national race with Trump leading in key states, Biden’s campaign efforts have significantly outpaced Trump’s in the first few months of 2024. ing. Mr. Trump also faces major financial hurdles as his criminal case drains millions of dollars that could be used for his campaign. Meanwhile, he faces a Monday deadline to post nearly $500 million in bail in a civil case involving his business.

Trump has denied reports about his financial troubles. He said Friday he had more than $500 million in cash, putting him at odds with lawyers who argued he didn’t have enough cash to cover the $454 million bond he must post. did. But he indicated he had no intention of using it.

President Trump: “That doesn’t mean I’m going to hand over money to corrupt, incompetent judges, failed violent and immigration criminals, and puppets of a corrupt attorney general whose only purpose in life is to get Trump.” It doesn’t mean anything.” told Fox News Digital In an interview.

The multibillion-dollar merger agreement announced Friday raised questions about whether Mr. Trump could catch up with Mr. Biden in the race for cash and generate funds to cover legal costs. It is unclear exactly how the development will unfold, but there are regulations that limit how much the former president’s financial situation will improve in the near future.

Under the terms of the merger between Digital World Acquisition Corp. and Truth Social, major shareholders cannot sell their shares for at least six months, meaning that Trump, who will become the company’s largest shareholder, stands to gain $3.5 billion from the deal. Probably not available. Be on time to meet the deposit deadline. But President Trump could try to get an exemption from selling stock if the company’s board, which is made up mostly of allies, agrees.

The merger comes just as the general election campaign is getting underway and as President Trump faces potentially dire financial difficulties. The former president has spent much of his past year’s income dealing with legal battles, as he faces four criminal charges in separate jurisdictions.

Trump’s fundraising committee spent about $30 million on legal fees through the second half of 2023, bringing his total legal expenses to about $50 million last year. His PAC, Save America, spent nearly $3 million in legal fees in January and another $5.6 million last month, leaving it with just $4 million in cash at the start of this month. Ta.

The civil judgment against him cost even more money. Author E. Jean Carroll had to post about $91 million in bail this month to appeal a defamation verdict for lying about sexual abuse.

But the biggest financial hurdle is the $454 million he must pay in a civil fraud case. Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing Monday that securing his full bond would be “practically impossible.”

At the same time, Trump has surpassed Biden in fundraising. Mr. Biden raised $33 million in the final quarter of 2023, significantly more than Mr. Trump’s $19 million.

That disparity continued until the beginning of this year. Mr. Biden’s campaign organization raised $42 million in January, while Mr. Trump’s main committees raised only $13.8 million. Mr. Trump ramped up his fundraising efforts in February, totaling just over $20 million, while Mr. Biden’s operation raised $53 million.

Some Republican strategists say the key difference is that Mr. Trump was fresh off the back of a bitterly contested Republican primary, while Mr. Biden had little difficulty securing the nomination.

“Republicans didn’t need to nominate Trump. Democrats had to nominate Biden. If Trump were the sitting president in this scenario, he would have defeated Biden without any questions asked,” said a Republican strategist. Zachary Moyle said.

“The simple answer…is the fact that Republicans had a choice and Democrats didn’t have a choice. Nikki Haley hasn’t been out that long, but that’s the difference in funding.” he continued.

Haley emerged as the last remaining alternative to Trump by the New Hampshire primary in January, and received significant financial backing even as Trump continued to win the first primary and caucuses. Maintained. She attracted many traditional Republican mega-donors, including billionaire Home Depot co-founder Ken Langone and Charles Koch’s political network.

This was the first time Koch’s Americans for Prosperity Action supported a Republican presidential candidate in a primary.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) also received significant funding, especially early in the campaign when he was seen as the candidate most likely to beat Trump. It was thrown.

“Trump would raise a ton of money if he took all that money and threw it back into Trump World,” Moyle said. “That’s a big question for people who were hoping for another matchup on the conservative side of the Republican Party: Are they going to come out at some point or are they going to stay out?”

Democrats said the financial difficulties faced by Trump would give Biden an advantage as the race progresses, arguing that polls show more enthusiasm for Biden than they show.

Strategist Clay Middleton, a member of the Democratic National Committee, said observers do not expect fundraising to be possible based on the polls.

“We’re better than them,” he said of Republicans. “They compare our polling numbers and fundraising numbers to their fundraising numbers and polling numbers, any day of the week.”

He said the financial advantage will allow the Biden campaign to go beyond digital and TV ads and organize on the ground to reach voters and establish “deep organizational relationships” faster. .

“We’ve peaked at the right time and will only get better from here,” Middleton said.

Democratic strategist Crimson McDonald said he believes polls are a better indicator of voter dissatisfaction. She said some of Biden’s supporters understand the importance of money in politics, but are a quieter group than former President Barack Obama’s supporters, who were more openly enthusiastic. said.

“He’s not someone that people just spit out into the world that I love.” [Biden]But…the people who donate, the people who understand very well that he needs to be president or that they need to invest in some way, they’re donating,” MacDonald said. Ta.

But Republicans point out that Trump won in 2016 even though Hillary Clinton outperformed him, saying the disparity does not make Trump any more vulnerable than other candidates. I showed my point of view.

Republican strategist Justin Safey said Trump doesn’t need to raise more money than his opponent, he just needs to raise enough money to win. He added that he was not yet concerned about Biden’s fundraising advantage.

He also pointed to the losing Democratic Senate candidates who outperformed Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R.C.) in 2020.

“I couldn’t convert those dollars into cash,” Seifi said.

He said the joint fundraising committee set up by Trump and the Republican National Committee could improve numbers by providing party infrastructure to campaigns, just as Biden was able to work with the Democratic National Committee. He said it would contribute.

“I think we’re going to see a rallying of Republicans, and I think his fundraising numbers will go up as a result because he’s now the de facto candidate of the party,” Safie said.