Since leaving workplace in 2021, former President Donald J. Trump has spent greater than $100 million on legal professionals and different prices associated to warding off numerous investigations, indictments and his coming prison trials, in accordance with a New York Occasions evaluate of federal information.
The outstanding sum implies that Mr. Trump has averaged greater than $90,000 a day in legal-related prices for greater than three years — none of it paid for along with his personal cash.
As an alternative, the previous president has relied nearly fully on donations made in an try and struggle the outcomes of the 2020 election.
Now, these accounts are almost drained, and Mr. Trump faces a selection: start to pay his personal substantial authorized charges or discover one other solution to finance them.
November 2020 to Early 2021
Mr. Trump raised a staggering $254 million on-line from Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the election, to President Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021, as he urged supporters to gas an “election protection fund.”
The contributions got here so shortly that on Nov. 9, Mr. Trump fashioned a brand new political motion committee, Save America, to retailer all of the money.
Solely a fraction of the cash, nonetheless, went towards recounts and different authorized challenges to the election. Some went to Mr. Trump’s legal professionals throughout his second impeachment, associated to the Jan. 6 riot.
However Mr. Trump banked a lot of the money.
Remainder of 2021
Mr. Trump began to make use of the cash to fund his post-presidential political operation and what would finally turn out to be his sprawling authorized groups. In February, Trump renamed his 2020 committee to “MAGA PAC.”
By the tip of 2021, Save America, which continued to herald new donations, held a considerable portion of Mr. Trump’s fund-raising: $105 million.
2022
Each Save America and MAGA PAC spent considerably in 2022 on authorized payments and different associated bills. The Home held its impeachment hearings. The F.B.I. searched Mar-a-Lago for lacking labeled paperwork in August. Mr. Trump’s authorized charges rose.
Mr. Trump spent about $27.2 million on legal-related prices for the 12 months.
As Mr. Trump ready to announce his 2024 run late in 2022, he confronted a quandary: His PAC couldn’t instantly spend cash to elect him as president. So Save America transferred $60 million to a pro-Trump tremendous PAC referred to as MAGA Inc.
2023
Save America started 2023 with $18.3 million. However Mr. Trump’s authorized bills have been about to soar. He was first indicted in March 2023 in New York. Three different indictments adopted.
Mr. Trump spent near $60 million on authorized and investigation-related prices — which included his legal professionals, a document-production firm and an knowledgeable witness in Trump’s New York civil fraud case.
Early final 12 months, Mr. Trump made a change to deliver more cash into Save America, the PAC that was paying his authorized bills. At first, one cent of each greenback he raised on-line went to Save America; the remainder went to his 2024 marketing campaign. However with Save America in need of money to pay legal professionals, he elevated that to 10 p.c.
It was nonetheless not sufficient. By June 2023, Save America had lower than $4 million available. In an uncommon transfer, Mr. Trump requested his tremendous PAC for a refund of the $60 million he had given simply months earlier, in order that Save America may proceed paying for his authorized bills.
By the tip of 2023, greater than $42 million had been returned from his tremendous PAC to Save America.
2024
Along with his first trial looming — within the New York case associated to hush-money funds to a porn star in 2016 — Mr. Trump’s authorized prices continued to rise. He spent a minimum of $9.7 million in January and February.
The greater than $100 million in authorized spending since leaving workplace doesn’t embody spending from Mr. Trump’s 2024 marketing campaign, which has not paid for his private authorized payments.
To cowl the continuing authorized prices, his tremendous PAC refunded a further $10 million in January and February. However there may be now solely $7.75 million left to refund. Save America had lower than $4 million on the finish of February, when accounting for unpaid money owed.
The Trump group has stated the Republican Nationwide Committee gained’t pay his authorized payments. However his new shared fund-raising settlement with the occasion directs a portion of donations to his Save America PAC earlier than the occasion itself.
Nonetheless, the account paying Mr. Trump’s authorized payments will almost definitely be out of cash by summer time on the present spending tempo.
Then, Mr. Trump should resolve: Whose cash will he use to pay his legal professionals?