And in tweet-like statements, he is asking his supporters to donate money directly to his Save America political action committee – leaving the network of affiliated campaign committees and super PACs that typically lead the medium-term efforts in the cold.
“No more money for RINOS,” Trump said in a statement late on Monday. “They do nothing but harm the Republican Party and our large vote base – they will never lead us to Greatness. Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com. We will bring everything back stronger than ever!”
In another statement on Tuesday night, Trump repeated his insistence that donors give their money directly to their PAC – even though he claimed he was not in conflict with the Republican campaign committees that will be vying for many of the same donor dollars.
“I fully support the Republican Party and important GOP Committees, but I do not support RINOs and fools, and it is not their right to use my image or image to raise funds,” Trump said in the statement. “So much money is being raised and completely wasted by people who don’t have the Republican Party’s best interests in mind.”
In an unusual joint statement, the presidents of the Republican National Committee, the Republican National Senatorial Committee and the Republican National Congressional Committee responded on Tuesday night saying they were “grateful” for Trump’s support, “both in the past and in the future.”
“Through his powerful agenda, we were able to break fundraising records and elect Republicans at all levels. Together, we look forward to working with President Trump to retake our majorities in Congress and deliver results to the American people,” said the communicated. attributed to RNC President Ronna McDaniel, Senator Rick Scott and Deputy Tom Emmer.
Trump’s moves to consolidate his donors’ money into his own causes show that fundraising has become the last front in the fight for the future of the Republican Party.
His appetite for primaries – especially against House and Senate Republicans who voted for impeachment or condemnation for inciting the January 6 riot at the United States Capitol – is likely to put Trump in conflict with the Republican Senatorial National Committee, the Republican National Committee of Congress and other Republican Party establishment groups that normally seek to avoid costly and divisive intraparty struggles and to consolidate support for candidates most likely to win the general election.
“If you control the money, you control the party,” Republican donor Dan Eberhart told CNN on Tuesday. “Trump has effectively stunted the RNC, the NRCC and the NRSC in this cycle because they will have to spend a lot of time worrying about the friendly fire of the MAGA crowd.”
“MAGA’s endorsement is going to become big in this cycle for everyone. When Trump puts his finger on the scales, it can be decisive in many disputes,” said Eberhart, who said he was considering a Senate race for Arizona. “There will be a lot of consternation when Trump supports a candidate other than the NRSC and the NRCC in the primary races. Serious people are going to get burned.”
‘Some natural tension’
Over the weekend, a long-running dispute over the use of Trump’s name and image in Republican fundraising appeals spread to the public. After Trump’s lawyers sent a cease and desist letter to three of the party’s fundraising committees, the Republican National Committee denied the request in a letter obtained by CNN.
RNC’s chief lawyer, J. Justin Reimer, told Trump’s lawyers that the RNC has “every right to refer to public figures” in its political speech and “will continue to do so”.
Reimer also noted the “close relationship” between Trump and McDaniel. The letter added that Trump “reaffirmed to her over the weekend that he approves the current use of his name by the RNC in fundraising and other materials.”
Trump’s lawyers have also sent the same request to cease and desist to the NRCC and the NRSC. An NRCC spokesman declined to comment and an NRSC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
The episode revealed how the former president is still firmly attached to his valuable political brand.
“There is a natural tension between the president and many of these committees that predates the most recent situation in which the president is dissatisfied with the use of his image. This is something that they protected a lot during his term,” said a Republican operative who asked for anonymity. to discuss inter-party dynamics.
The confrontation also shows how Trump remains central to the Republican Party’s own strategy, particularly with regard to the growth of its small dollar donor base. But the party’s confidence in Trump’s popularity with the Republican base conflicts with its need to expand its reach beyond the devoted supporters of the former president.
“The desire is to have both, where you get voters from the ex-president, not your baggage,” said a campaign strategist for the Republican Party who asked to remain anonymous to speak openly about Republican incentives.
Some Republican donors, eager to see the Republican Party win majorities in next year’s midterm elections, reject Trump’s attacks. Lisa Spies, a veteran Republican fund-raiser, said that the main donors who supply the Republican Party’s political apparatus do not base their contribution decisions on whether the fund-raising requests feature images of Trump or other politicians.
As a result, Trump’s confrontation with party leaders “will have very little – if any – effect on major donors,” she told CNN in an interview on Tuesday.
These taxpayers “are more concerned with bringing back the majority in the Senate and getting a majority in the House,” said Spies, “and the main donors will follow what [Rep. Tom] Emmer does at the NRCC and what [Sen.] Rick Scott does at the NRSC. ”
“They are less concerned with an ex-president’s agenda, or frankly, with making him feel good,” she added.
Still, Trump and his considerable campaign war chest could intervene in contested primaries, particularly in undecided districts and states, which would put the chance of retaking majorities in the House and Senate at serious risk.
“They figured out how to neutralize it,” said the Republican campaign strategist.
Paul S. Ryan, vice president for litigation and policies at Common Cause, said it was clear months ago that Trump’s interest came first.
After losing the election last November, Trump amassed millions of dollars for his own political action committee by promoting falsehoods about electoral fraud – instead of investing in two US Senate contests in Georgia. In the end, Republicans lost the second round in early January, along with the majority in the House.
“The party needed the money in Georgia in December,” said Ryan. “He deflected him with his lies about the election.”
“He is all about himself. It is not about building or supporting the party.”
CNN’s Dan Merica contributed to this report.