The offensive underscores Trump’s determination to maintain his control over the Republican Party, even outside the White House. By urging donors to direct their money through his political vehicle, the ex-president is trying to monopolize the Republican Party’s donor base – and to double the GOP at will, depriving it of money.
According to conversations with nearly a dozen Republican officials and strategists in and out of Trump’s orbit, the former president’s action could have profound implications for the party, which is counting on him to fill his bank account before the midterm elections. 2022 term. Trump is a fund-raising giant, claiming a huge base of small donors with an activist mentality that Republican candidates have spent years exploring.
“Everyone is profiting from his popularity with the base, and he wants to control that money. Trump wants to have influence, and one of the best ways to have influence is to control the money, ”said Mike DuHaime, a former political director for the Republican National Committee.
It is not yet clear how far the financial impact will be for Republican groups. The RNC, which has the closest connection to Trump from any official party committee, has rejected the requirement to cease and desist, arguing that since Trump is a public figure, he has every right to raise funds using his name.
And while the former president was a source of income for the party, GOP organizations have found other ways to generate dollars. The party raised rivers of money through appeals focused on issues of cultural war that irritate the conservative base, such as the uproar surrounding Dr. Seuss’ books. He also benefited from six- and seven-digit checks provided by affluent donors, many of whom rejected the former president, to super PACs and affiliated nonprofits.
While Democrats have complete control over Washington, Republicans insist that they will have many ways to motivate financial supporters to open their wallets.
Still, Republican officials admit that Trump’s attack could, at least temporarily, impair his ability to raise funds from his legions of small donors, especially if the former president succeeds in convincing them that Republican leaders are not sufficiently loyal. to him. Tony Fabrizio, the lead pollster for Trump’s 2020 campaign, recently conducted a poll of more than 1,200 Republican Party voters who concluded that the majority believed the party should “continue to be led by Trump”.
“This data suggests that any party committee leader who wants to play chicken with Trump is very likely to end up as a political run over,” said Fabrizio.
Trump was partially driven by anger over what he sees as the party’s defense of the Republican candidates who supported his impeachment, say those who spoke to him. Republican National Senatorial Committee chairman Rick Scott (Florida) said he plans to be “very aggressive” in supporting acting legislators, including Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who voted to condemn Trump and drew his ire. Minnesota MP Tom Emmer, head of the Congressional National Republican Committee, said he would not participate in the primaries and warned Trump against trying to oust Republican candidates.
Generally speaking, Trump supporters argue, it is not unreasonable for the former president to pale with the idea that organizations are using him to support those who supported his impeachment, even if the holders’ moderate histories make them strong candidates in states and districts in conflict.
It is him “not wanting anyone to help his radical opposition using his name. He wants control back. I don’t blame you, ”said Brian Ballard, a Florida lobbyist and Trump’s longtime ally.
Others point out that the former president has long been sensitive to other people who are benefiting financially from him. Trump’s advisers say he concluded that he needed to restart his fundraising relationship with the party, whose ranks included people he felt had taken advantage of him.
Some party officials, however, are convinced that the offensive is, at least in part, being promoted by the advisers surrounding Trump, as opposed to the former president himself. In its letter to Trump’s lawyers on Monday, the RNC noted that “we understand that President Trump reaffirmed that [chair Ronna McDaniel] over the weekend he approves the current use of his name by the RNC in fundraising and other materials. “
In his statement late on Tuesday, Trump said his efforts to restrict the use of his name were aimed at “RINOs and fools”, not “major GOP [c]committees “, although it did not specify which groups it considered” important “.
The flareup represents a rare break between Trump and the RNC, who worked together during the 2020 elections. Trump and McDaniel are close: the two speak frequently and the ex-president’s endorsement to McDaniel to serve a third consecutive term as president opened the path to your re-election.
Within the party hierarchy, last week’s cease and desist letters, which were sent by Trump’s legal team, were met with confusion. Disbelieving Republican officials spent the weekend trying to figure out how they could be legally banned from using the name of a public figure in donor appeals, which is common practice by both parties.
But it is not the first time that there is tension between Trump and party leaders about fundraising. Senior Republican Senate officials complained before the 2020 election that the former president was not doing enough to help financially they. Trump also frustrated party officials by sending fundraising appeals focused on the January elections in Georgia, which directed resources to Trump’s PAC instead of the Republican Party. candidates, who were narrowly defeated.
The current crack has spread through Trump’s orbit. Donald Trump Jr., son of the former president and a prolific fund-raiser for the party on his own merits, has not signed any donor appeals to any of the Republican committees since Georgia’s second round. (The youngest Trump, however, signed fundraising messages for minority mayor Steve Scalise and Missouri senator Josh Hawley, both staunch allies of the former president.)
During a Tuesday appearance on Newsmax, McDaniel rejected tensions with Trump, calling him “the most favorable RNC president, I think, in history. The things he did when I was president while he was in the White House, and the things he continues to do to support the party – we’ve never seen anything like it. ”
Amid the drama, concerns have arisen among senior Republicans that donors will be confused about where to direct their checks. To increase uncertainty is Trump’s desire to start a super PAC, which could end up competing for dollars with existing outside groups that are closely aligned with the party’s leadership in the House and Senate.
There are “very confusing messages” being sent “to real grassroots activists,” said Scott Reed, a former political strategist with the United States Chamber of Commerce. “Many are shaking their heads.”
Leading Republicans say they are determined to extinguish any existing tensions between the former president and the party’s campaign apparatus and emphasize that they have been working to get Trump to focus on defeating Democrats rather than taking revenge on other Republicans. They point to a positive development: Trump’s recent endorsement of a handful of Republican Senate holders, which will help inoculate them into potentially bloody primaries.
“The president, working with the House and Senate committees, will be invaluable in avoiding the primaries and also in helping to recruit the best candidate for the states that matter,” said Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.), a supporter of Trump. “Without President Trump on board, it will be a difficult task.”
Burgess Everett contributed to this report.