Donald Trump once said, "I don't need anybody else's money." Times have changed
Trump in a different position than in his previous two White House campaigns. He is beset by mammoth legal costs and running against an incumbent president that's shown prowess in raising money.
Selling sneakers and Bibles, getting $175 million to cover a bond in New York — is there anyone that Donald Trump wouldn't sell to, or accept money from?
The presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee finds himself in a different position than in his previous two White House campaigns. He is beset by mammoth legal costs and running against an incumbent president who has shown prowess in raising money.
As such, the ex-POTUS has departed from statements he made in June 2015 when he came down the golden escalator at Trump Tower in Manhattan to announce his first run for president.
"I don’t need anybody’s money," he said. "I’m using my own money. I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich. And by the way, I’m not even saying that in a bragging way, that’s the kind of mindset, that’s the kind of thinking you need for this country."
Or what he said roughly a year later.
"I'm turning down millions of dollars for the campaign, millions," he said. "Everybody is offering me money and I don't want it. So I'm turning down millions of dollars."
So, who is giving Trump money? Here are seven things to know.
Happy Holy Week!Trump, God Bless the USA singer Lee Greenwood partner up to sell $59.99 Bibles
1. Republican billionaires
On Saturday night, the Trump campaign expects to pocket $33 million from a gathering in Palm Beach at the house of hedge fund guru John Paulson.
Who's behind it? According to an invitation obtained by USA Today, it is a group of billionaires that includes Palm Beach County sugar mogul Jose “Pepe” Fanjul as well as Palm Beach resident and former Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The invitation also lists Howard Lutnick, head of the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald, mega-GOP donors Rebekah and Robert Mercer, Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts, investment banker Warren Stephens and real estate magnate Steve Witkoff.
The price of admission on the invitation is $250,000 with a maximum contribution of $814,600, which the Washington Post has reported lands a seat at Trump's table.
Government watchdogs are on guard.
Minnesota law professor Richard Painter, a Trump critic who served as President George W. Bush's top ethics adviser, is just one of the government watchdogs out there who has said the former president's full-court press for money these days raise all sorts of potential ethical entanglements.
2. A billionaire who said it was just business
That would be a tycoon from Southern California named Don Hankey who paid Trump's $175 million bond in his New York fraud case.
Forbes has listed Hankey's net worth at $7.4 billion. The publication said Hankey, who it said keeps a low profile, built his fortune through car dealerships and subprime auto lending.
Hankey was quoted by the Associated Press saying that “we’re happy to do this for anyone who needs a bond,” and that he has never met or spoken with Trump, though he voted for him in 2016.
This week, however, New York Attorney General Letitia James raised doubts about the veracity of the bond in a filing in which she questioned whether it met the state's requirements.
'Never Surrender High-Tops':Day after judge orders him to pay more than $350M, Trump touts sneakers in Philadelphia
3. Sneakerheads? Or younger consumers and voters
In February, Trump appeared at the Sneaker Con show in Philadelphia to unveil gold-colored high-tops emblazoned with a "T" for, well, you know, and that retail for $399.
Who is the target audience? Sneaker fashionistas, but particularly much-sought after dual consumer and voting blocs: young people.
A pair of Trump fans who attended the event, Jonathen Santiago, 21, and Danea Mitchell, 20, told CBS News they were impressed. The network said Mitchell thought the shoes' "red bottoms were a really nice touch" and she added "I have no doubt he'll be president."
A national poll released by Florida Atlantic University and Mainstreet Research last month showed Trump with strength among younger voters. Those surveyed ages 18 and 34 chose Trump over President Joe Biden by 54.4% to 36.6%. The gap narrowed but still favored the former president in the 35-to 49 bracket, 48% to 43.6%.
NBC News on Friday reported donor-access program menu being circulated by the republican National Committee said anyone who raises $2.5 million for trump will get a "personalized" pair of the sneakers.
4. Evangelicals? They have been casting votes for Trump all along.
The comedy show "Saturday Night Live" didn't waste a minute to mock Trump's Holy Week announcement that he is also a Bible salesman via a venture with singer Lee Greenwood.
However, faith voters are a major reason Trump won the presidency in 2016, and why he has again won the GOP nomination for a third consecutive time. Whether Christian voters fork over $60 for the Bible package that includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance and the Declaration of Independence remains to be seen.
But NPR reported in January that roughly eight in 10 people who identify as Christian evangelicals cast their ballot for Trump in 2016, with a similar outcome in the former president's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2020.
5. MAGA
Last month, a fundraising group helping Trump pay his legal bills sent out an emergency bat-signal to the followers of his Make America Great Again movement, asking them to dig into their pockets.
“So before the day is over, I’m calling on ONE MILLION Pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say: STOP THE WITCH HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP!” the message said, as reported by the New York Post.
The call was for cash to help meet pay the bond obligation that billionaire Hankey eventually took care of. But similar fundraising emails, texts and other communications have been frequent for a long time now.
6. Wall Street investors
Trump stands to make billions if the social media company that owns his Truth Social platform and other initiatives becomes a financial success. Judging from the early losses, that outcome is far from clear.
But Trump simply has to convince the investment houses on the Street to bet on him, allowing him to, potentially, realize billions from his ownership stake in the company.
The Guardian reported that a Russian-American businessman "under scrutiny in a federal insider-trading" probe helped sustain Trump Media two years ago by being part of an emergency loan arrangement.
7. Team Biden trolls Trump on fundraising
Trump is trying to catch up as Biden rakes money in, too..
Trump has been trailing Biden in fundraising, and the president's re-election campaign has trolled the self-described "rich" tycoon-turned-politician over the gap.
“When he’s not hiding out in Mar-a-Lago, he’s calling into white supremacist radio to traffic in antisemitic tropes or saying there’ll be a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses," Biden's campaign said in one statement last month. "Even if he had the money, it’s not a message the voters would buy.”
Palm Beach Daily News Darrell Hofheinz real estate editor contributed to this story.
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at afins@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.