The Bulwark: “For years, Donald Trump’s campaign staff struggled to get him to make donor calls and take fundraising seriously.”
“But that was before Trump faced an incumbent president and a primary opponent who was outraising him. It was before he was hit with nearly $540 million in civil fines against him and his family business in two New York cases. And it was before his political committee shelled out about $50 million in legal bills stemming from those civil cases (as well as the four criminal indictments he faces)…”
“Trump’s legal issues have impacted his money picture in multiple ways: (1) They made some big donors nervous about giving to him, depriving him of money he otherwise would have had sooner. (2) They led some big donors to give to Haley instead, thereby prolonging her campaign. (3) They armed Trump critics with the argument that he wants the RNC to pay his legal bills. (4) The big financial judgments against him have made cash more scarce for Trump—which in turn make it harder to fill gaps by self-funding (which Trump has always been loath to do and hasn’t done this cycle).”