A PAC controlled by former President Donald Trump that has dedicated tens of millions of dollars to his and his allies’ legal bills may be facing a cash shortage after spending nearly $3.7 million on legal fees in March.
Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, has now used $59.5 million on legal consulting since the beginning of 2023. Additionally, it accrued $886,000 in new legal debt in March, according to a report submitted to the Federal Election Commission late Saturday. More than $1.1 million of its March expenses went towards two firms representing Trump in his New York criminal hush money trial.
The total spent on legal expenses for Save America was nearly equivalent to Trump’s campaign committee’s spending in March, underscoring how legal issues have drained the funds of his political operation. Trump’s official campaign committee spent slightly over $3.7 million in March, with travel expenses and payroll being its largest expenditure categories.
That amount is minor compared to the more than $29 million that President Joe Biden’s campaign spent in March, with the incumbent initiating a significant ad campaign.
In March, Save America, Trump’s leadership PAC, managed to remain financially stable due to another $5 million refund from Make America Great Again Inc., the Trump-supporting super PAC. The super PAC has been transferring $5 million to the leadership PAC each month since last July, with less frequent transfers before then.
The leadership PAC initially provided $60 million to the super PAC before Trump announced his candidacy. Now, MAGA Inc. can only return $2.75 million more to Save America, raising concerns about whether Save America will continue to be the funding source for legal bills in various cases linked to Trump.
The leadership PAC had just over $4 million cash on hand at the end of March. It can still raise funds from donors and has previously received money through one of Trump’s joint fundraising committees, although such transfers have been infrequent in recent months. This source may be further restricted in the future: Since the beginning of April, Trump has mainly been sending fundraising emails on behalf of a new joint fundraising committee, Trump National Committee, which fundraises solely for his campaign and the Republican National Committee.
The RNC had its most successful fundraising month in March, raising $20 million, about half of which came through another Trump-associated joint fundraising committee. However, the party committee spent $10 million, leaving it with $21 million cash on hand, less than half of the $45 million that the Democratic National Committee reported at the end of March.
Among the RNC’s March expenses was a payment of $118,000 to former Chair Ronna McDaniel on March 6, two days before she departed from the committee. Representatives for McDaniel and the RNC did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the payment.
MAGA Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC that has been financing Save America, continued to generate revenue in March, raising $14 million led by substantial donations from familiar GOP donors. Linda McMahon, the former WWE CEO who headed the Small Business Administration under Trump, donated $5 million to the super PAC, while Nevada real estate mogul Robert Bigelow contributed over $4 million. Most of these funds cannot be directed to Save America, as MAGA Inc. is limited in its transfer capabilities based on what Save America previously provided to the super PAC during the 2022 cycle.
Alex Isenstadt contributed to this report.
