Presumptive Republican US presidential candidate Donald Trump raised US$1.7 million from donors and loaned his White House campaign US$7.5 million last month, according to documents filed with the US Federal Election Commission on Friday.
Trump had loaned his campaign a total of US$43.5 million as of the end of last month, the filings showed. More recently, he has made moves to build up his fundraising operation with an eye toward the Nov. 8 general election.
Trump became the Republican Party’s presumptive nominee early this month, when both of his rivals dropped out of the race. Trump self-funded much of his primary run, but he has said he would not rely as heavily on his own money for the general election.
Both candidates seeking the Democratic nomination have raised more than Trump.
Democratic US presidential frontrunner Hillary Rodham Clinton brought in US$26.4 million last month, including funds from a joint fundraising effort with the Democratic Party.
An outside Super PAC (political action committee) supporting her campaign raised US$8.6 million. A Super PAC is a fund-raising group that must operate separately from political campaigns but can raise unlimited sums.
Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination US Senator Bernie Sanders raised US$26.9 million last month. He has disavowed Super PACs.
Trump has criticized them too, although a longtime Republican operative this month joined one Super PAC backing the real-estate mogul. Trump hired investor Steven Mnuchin as his national finance chairman and entered a joint fundraising deal with the Republican National Committee that would allow donors to write bigger checks.
Friday’s Federal Election Commission filings do not reflect these moves, but they show that Trump’s fundraising dipped last month, after he brought in about US$3 million and loaned himself US$11.5 million in March.
He also spent less last month, US$9.4 million compared with US$13.8 million a month earlier, when more states held nominating contests.
Trump spent US$2.6 million on advertising last month, less than half the US$6.3 million he spent in March. By comparison, Sanders spent US$17.3 million and Clinton spent US$9.3 million on advertising last month.
Trump’s consulting and payroll spending also dropped about 30 percent to US$1.7 million last month, even as he added experienced political staff. At the end of March, he hired veteran Republican strategist Paul Manafort.
Trump ended last month with US$2.4 million on hand, after starting the month with US$2.1 million at the ready.
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