Why Trump Is Ramming Piles of Cash Through a Campaign Loophole
Roger Sollenberger The Daily Beast
Donald Trump’s leadership PAC just made a $20 million donation to another PAC. Trump could’ve spent the money on other Republicans. Now the PAC can spend it on him.
The contribution—Trump’s largest ever by far—went from his Save America leadership PAC on Oct. 3 to a new Trump-aligned super PAC, called Make America Great Again Inc. That same day, an old pro-Trump super PAC threw another $8.9 million behind the new group.
Super PACs can spend unlimited amounts of money to support candidates, so on its face, the donation could be said to be a generous contribution from Trump to the MAGA cause during a critical election. But as a number of campaign finance experts explained, the specifics here suggest Trump is really trying to get around laws that would otherwise prevent him from spending his personal stash on a 2024 presidential run.
Paul S. Ryan, a veteran campaign finance lawyer now serving as deputy executive director at the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, said that was “the only plausible explanation.”
“The only thing Trump cannot do with the millions and millions of dollars he’s raised into his leadership PAC is support himself. The only plausible explanation for this move is to convert that money to be spent on his own campaign,” Ryan told The Daily Beast.