How Much Money Will Trump Spend on His Presidential Campaign in 2024?
The name Donald Trump has been synonymous with money for decades, but the former president’s finances have never endured more scrutiny than today. A series of civil and criminal cases are sapping his fortune and threatening his business empire — and then, of course, there’s the little thing of funding a presidential campaign, which is one of the most expensive purchases money can buy.
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But how much will Trump spend in his mission to evict Joe Biden from the White House, reclaim his place in the Oval Office and become the first president since Grover Cleveland to win a second nonconsecutive term?
GOBankingRates asked political finance and campaign experts to examine the likely cost of Trump’s campaign as America lurches toward its first presidential rematch since 1956, when Dwight Eisenhower defeated Adlai Stevenson for the second time.
The Price of the Presidency
Like any modern presidential candidate, Trump will have to produce a mountain of cash to fund his campaign.
According to OpenSecrets.org — a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks money in politics — 2020 upped the ante dramatically in an already expensive process. Here’s what the presidential hopefuls have spent in all six 21st-century contests, including all money spent by candidates, political parties and independent special interest groups:
2000: $1.4 billion
2004: $1.9 billion
2008: $2.8 billion
2012: $2.6 billion
2016: $2.4 billion
2020: $5.7 billion
As you can see, the first showdown between Trump and Biden four years ago more than doubled the previous cycle’s spending, but where does all the money go?
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What Do All Those Billions Buy?
According to OpenSecrets, the Donald J. Trump for President 2024 committee has spent more than any other candidate-affiliated group in the current election cycle — $54,022,758 as of Feb. 2, compared to $37,502,043 for Biden for President.
But where does it all go and what does it pay for?
“Trump’s 2024 campaign is likely to incur significant expenses, including costs for advertising, travel, staff salaries and digital outreach efforts,” said Eliana Martiin, political finance analyst, campaign strategist and CEO of the political advocacy firm QualifyCandidates. “Previous campaigns have shown a willingness to invest heavily in these areas to maximize visibility and voter engagement.”
According to OpenSecrets, this is how all combined presidential campaigns have spent their money so far in the 2024 election cycle:
Media: 24.23%
Fundraising: 19.44%
Administrative costs: 15.35%
Unclassifiable expenses: 14.65%
Salaries: 13.71%
Campaign expenses: 6.31%
Strategy and research: 6.29%
With nearly one dollar in five spent to raise more dollars, getting supporters to dig deep is the name of the game.
“Fundraising will play a crucial role in financing Trump’s campaign, with an emphasis on grassroots donations, high-dollar fundraisers and online contributions,” said Martiin. “The campaign’s ability to mobilize financial support from its base will be a key determinant of its overall budget.”
But that’s shaping up to be a much heavier lift for Trump in 2024 than it was in 2020.
Endless Legal Bills Are Gobbling Up Campaign Cash and Repelling Donors
According to Forbes, Trump’s litany of legal bills and civil judgments have topped a half-billion dollars so far, and the GOP candidate is scrambling to meet impending deadlines to secure bonds and/or put up the cash needed to file appeals himself. Other cases and lawsuits with potentially huge penalties are on the horizon, interest is accruing daily on some judgments and if Trump can’t or won’t pay, authorities can seize and sell his properties and other assets in some cases.
So what does Trump’s legal drama have to do with his campaign? Everything, because the latter is picking up the tab for the former.
The Blurred Line Between Legal Fees and Campaign Spending
According to the Associated Press, “Donald Trump’s legendary ability to raise massive sums of political cash may be on a collision course with a new and unpleasant reality.”
At the end of January, the Washington Post reported that Trump had spent $55 million in donor money not on his campaign, but on his legal bills. Even many die-hard supporters who were willing to spend their limited dollars to help Trump get elected balk at the prospect of paying a billionaire’s lawyer bills.
According to Bloomberg, the result is that the Trump campaign spent more than it raised in January, putting even more pressure on outside groups already buckling under the weight of his legal expenses. Politico reported that overall, the Trump campaign spent more than it received in all of 2023. The AP reports that Trump took in less than $14 million in January — a pittance by modern presidential campaign standards — compared to Joe Biden’s $42 million in the same period. That leaves Trump’s two committees with $36.6 million in cash on hand compared to Biden’s $132 million war chest. Bloomberg predicts that at this rate, Trump’s cash-crunched campaign will run out of money by July.
Campaign on a Crash Diet: ‘No More Than $3 Billion’
The best way to project the cost of 2024 is to look back at 2020, the most expensive presidential campaign in U.S. history.
“When expenditures and debt incurred by the 2020 Trump campaign committee are added to expenditures by outside groups, the 2020 Trump campaign cost approximately $2.24 billion,” said Michael Montgomery, a political scientist and former U.S. diplomat who advises nonprofit institutions on fundraising and resource development through his Montgomery Consulting firm and teaches part time in the Department of Health and Human Services at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. “To replicate the 2020 Trump campaign would cost $4.11 billion in 2024 dollars.”
But Trump does not have access to the same kind of cash or donor network today as he did four years ago.
“At this point, the 2024 Trump campaign committee has raised $85 million and outside groups have raised $55 million for a total of $140 million, which is a long way from the level of funding that was available to the 2020 Trump campaign,” said Montgomery, who cited FEC reporting and OpenSecrets data. “My guess? Total 2024 election cycle expenditures by the Trump campaign and outside organizations supporting Trump will come in at no more than $3 billion, making the 2024 Trump campaign a much less elaborate and expensive when adjusted for inflation than he had in 2020.”
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