CNN
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Late last year, former President Donald Trump announced his endorsement of car dealership owner Bernie Moreno for Ohio’s Senate seat – elevating an untested candidate who’d never held public office over several other more prominent Republicans.
Two days later, Moreno’s campaign spent about $17,000 at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and then followed up by spending an additional $79,000 the next month – making him one of the Florida club’s top political spenders.
He wasn’t alone. With glitzy Mar-a-Lago fundraisers, stays at Trump’s hotels, and flights on the former president’s private jet, Republican candidates and political groups are on track to spend more on Trump’s businesses this year than any year since 2016, according to a CNN analysis of federal campaign finance data.
Trump himself has been the biggest spender, both this year and over the last decade. Between his three presidential campaigns, Trump and associated political groups have funneled more than $28 million in campaign donations to his businesses – helping convert the enthusiasm of his political supporters into personal profit.
Other Republicans have followed suit, spending millions at Trump’s properties in an apparent attempt to curry favor with the former president and signal their allegiance to him to GOP voters.
Some of the candidates who’ve spent the most money on Trump businesses in recent years have been new politicians who won the former president’s endorsement despite a lack of past electoral experience or success, including Moreno, former Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker and Arizona Senate hopeful Kari Lake.
In the first half of 2024, federal campaigns and PACs have spent nearly $3.2 million on Trump businesses, more than 80% of which came from Trump’s own campaign and associated groups. The biggest chunk – about $1.9 million – was spent by Trump’s campaign and fundraising committees on a Trump-owned company that operates his jet.
In total, campaigns and committees have spent more than $1 million at Mar-a-Lago so far this year, and about $200,000 at other Trump hotels and resorts.
Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for Trump’s campaign, said that “committees are paying the fair market rate for all venues and services” provided by Trump businesses.
The dynamic of candidates shelling out thousands on Trump’s businesses while vying for his endorsement – which can make or break Republican campaigns – is an example of how politics has boosted his businesses’ bottom line. And the former president’s influence helps explain why some candidates are traveling hundreds or thousands of miles to show up at a Trump hotel or resort,…
Read More: Trump’s businesses are raking in millions of dollars from Republican
