Donald Trump, known for being loud and bombastic, had an uncharacteristically quiet presidential launch. The subdued event occurred at Mar-a-Lago with his wife, Melania Trump, by his side.
The billionaire’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who were instrumental during his first run and his four years in the White House, were not present and have since announced that they have permanently retired from politics.
Trump delivered a speech on that cold November day, bragging about his accomplishments as president while tearing down Joe Biden and the Democrats.
MAGA supporters did not hear Melania Trump’s voice during the Florida event. And the way the campaign is progressing, voters will not be hearing much of the former first lady’s elegant Eastern European accent this time.
The businesswoman has decided to follow in Ivanka Trump’s footsteps and has broken away from Donald Trump. Trump has done multiple interviews since his campaign launch without his spouse.
He has taken part in two official rallies in South Carolina and New Hampshire, and Melania Trump skipped both events.
Many of Donald Trump’s supporters are baffled that his wife has decided to leave him to swim alone during such a crucial and somewhat dire moment.
An official report released by NBC revealed the businessman turned reality TV star is struggling for cash in a race that will be competitive and nasty (Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Mike Pompeo have plans to run.)
According to end-of-year figures published by NBC News, Trump, known for being an astonishing fundraiser, has not been able to attract big checks or donors with deep pockets for his campaign.
It is believed that Trump’s money trouble stems from his decision to launch his campaign after the terrible midterm elections when donors were already maxed out for other Republican candidates running for Congress or governorships.
Trump is limping to the bank because he was banned from Facebook and Twitter and could not use social media to raise money.
A person with knowledge of Trump’s weakened money situation said he “pulled in about $9.5 million over the final six weeks of last year through his campaign and a joint fundraising committee…came from low-dollar donors, according to the person familiar with the numbers. The 291,617 donors who gave $200 or less accounted for 99.48% of his contributions. On average, their donations totaled $32.32.”
Eric Wilson, a Republican digital fundraising consultant, explained Trump’s mistake: “If you want a big fundraising pop when you announce your campaign, you don’t do it right after an election where all your donors are burned out from being bombarded by fundraising asks, and you don’t have a great track record to show for it.”
Confirming that Trump is in a unique predicament, along with his associates, they have been able to raise more money before the launch of his third presidential bid.
Via NBC: “The raised more before his presidential campaign launch than after his big announcement — $11.8 million from Oct. 1 until his Nov. 15 launch, and then only $9.5 million from Nov. 15 through the end of the year.”
In the past weeks, Trump has been reinstated on all social media platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, and will use them to solve his fundraising issue.
A Republican fundraising expert concluded: “Almost 50% of Republican donors login to Facebook every single day. So if you are not able to reach those donors, you’re just at a huge fundraising disadvantage.”
Trump is not a huge favorite for the nomination at the moment.
