Donald Trump’s donor numbers fall by 200,000 compared with 2019

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Donald Trump entered the 2024 election year with about 200,000 fewer donors than in the previous presidential campaign four years ago, raising questions about his fundraising machine just as legal bills eat into his war chest.

The Trump campaign and affiliated political action committees attracted roughly 516,000 donors in the second half of last year, compared with 740,000 at the same stage of his last race for the White House, according to Financial Times analysis of the latest data.

President Joe Biden had 473,000 donors in the second half of 2023 — fewer than his likely rival in this year’s White House race, but almost double the number in the second half of 2019, when Biden was competing for the Democratic nomination.

Trump and affiliated groups raised $189mn from his donors in 2023, while Biden drew in $202mn from a smaller donor base.

The decline in donors was “obviously not a good thing”, said a campaign official who worked on Trump’s 2020 bid. While “red signs of danger” were not yet flashing, Trump would urgently need to make up the numbers, the official added. The Trump campaign declined to comment. 

“Especially on the small-dollar side, we need that to happen quickly, so that person continues giving over the course of the campaign,” the official said. “The question now is once he becomes the nominee, how quickly can he get those folks back into the fold.”

The drop in Trump’s donor numbers compared with 2019 could be “yet another sign that there’s donor fatigue”, said Republican strategist Eric Wilson, as political supporters across the board grow numb to digital fundraising tactics.

Rising living costs could also have dissuaded donors, Wilson added, as could rival…