President Donald Trump’s campaign reported raising $30.3 million in campaign funds in the first quarter of the 2020 presidential race, according to FEC filings.
With the eye-popping fundraising haul, Trump flirts with record-breaking numbers. Only Hillary Clinton collected more in the first quarter of a presidential campaign — $36 million in April 2007 — but $10 million of that came as a transfer from her Senate campaign. Trump’s contributions outpaced former president Barack Obama’s $26 million in 2007 first quarter earnings. Obama didn’t declare for re-election until April 2011.
When combined with funds raised by the Republican National Committee, the president walks into the 2020 contest having raised $168 million since January 2017.
Perhaps most impressive is Trump’s small donor dominance. Trump’s campaign took in $3.3 million from donors giving less than $200 while his Make America Great Again joint fundraising committee received $17.4 million in small dollar contributions. The average donation from Trump supporters totaled little more than $34.26, according to the campaign, which informed the Associated Press.
Trump transferred $22 million from his joint fundraising committees to his campaign. While Make America Great Again (transferred $20 million to the Trump campaign) attracts small donors online, Trump Victory ($2 million) takes in funds from big dollar fundraisers.
Trump burst out of the fundraising starting-block early, launching his re-election campaign fund the night of his inauguration in January 2017. And Trump crisscrossed the country to hold rallies in his strongholds even before the election cycle picked up, leaning into a sizeable fundraising list.
His 2020 strategy isn’t much different than it was four years ago, when Trump attracted large numbers of small donors on social media. The campaign has already unleashed 190,000…