Trump raises $34 million for White House campaign after big boost from indictment

Donald Trump raised more than $34 million for his 2024 White House run since the start of the year and saw a spike in donations after his indictment on March 30th.

The former president raised $15.4 million of that money in the two weeks after charges were filed against him, his campaign told CNN, arguing it showed how much his supporters have rallied around Trump.

Trump also saw a huge increase in his poll numbers after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg arraigned him on more than 30 charges related to a hush money payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump pled not guilty.

The boost in numbers suggests Trump is more popular than ever among the Republican base. The former president claims to be the victim of a weaponized federal government and claims the charges are the work of Democrats who don't want to see him win another term in the White House. 

Donald Trump raised more than $34 million for his 2024 White House run since the start of the year

But the former president also has been rallying his supporters with the news of the indictment, sending out fundraising appeal after fundraising appeal including a dramatic one entitled 'the last email before I go to jail' on the morning of his indictment in New York. 

His campaign previously said on March 31 that it had raised $4 million in the 24 hours since his indictment was first announced. 

He then received 312,564 donations in the two weeks after charges were filed with the average donation totaling roughly $49.

Trump has been raising money for his 2024 presidential bid through both his campaign and his political action committee, Save America PAC.

In comparison, Nikki Haley, one of few other announced candidates in the GOP presidential race, announced she raised more than $11 million between her Feb. 15 campaign launch and the end of the first quarter. Haley has $7.8 million on hand. 

But her actual filings with the Federal Election Commission told a different story.

They show that her campaign appears to have double-counted money it moved among various committees, which means it dramatically overstated its haul.

The filings, which cover the first three months of 2023, show that her three committees together brought in about $8.3 million.

Donald Trump's campaign argues the indictment is rallying Trump's supporters around the former president - above Trump in Manhattan court

Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Texas in March

It's common - and legal - for candidates to set up various fundraising committees and move money between them.

Nachama Soloveichik, communications director for the Haley campaign, told The Washington Post that adding up the numbers from the three committees without excluding transfers mirrored how other campaigns explained their fundraising.