Trump and DeSantis lead GOP fundraising race. Other hopefuls try 'quid pro quo' tactics to break through.

Quarterly campaign finance reports released Saturday after a Federal Election Commission filing deadline show that among Republican presidential hopefuls, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were "in a tier of their own on the fundraising front," The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Trump reported raising $17.7 million from April through June, while the DeSantis campaign reported a $20.1 million haul — though DeSantis also burned through $7.9 million, and a hefty $13.8 million of his total came from big donors who gave the maximum amount allowed in the primary campaign. DeSantis also laid off "fewer than 10" paid campaign staffers last week, Politico reported; NBC News said he "fired a dozen staffers." Trump reported $22.5 million cash on hand, while DeSantis had $12.2 million.

No other GOP candidate raised more than $8 million. Across the board, Politico reported, "no one is posting eye-popping numbers" — not even President Biden, whose principal campaign committee reported taking in a modest $19.8 million, though it also "spent basically nothing: $1.1 million" — and "nearly every candidate's fundraising came with a caveat."

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The campaign filings also "leave unanswered several questions," AP reports, like how much each candidate's super PAC raised and "the total numbers of individual donors for each campaign, a figure tied directly to GOP debate participation." The campaigns of Trump, DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Chris Christie, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy said they have the requisite 40,000 unique donors to participate in the Aug. 23 debate. Some candidates, including former Vice President Mike Pence, may not qualify. Other campaigns are taking creative measures to reach that threshold.

Ramaswamy is one of the lower-tier GOP hopefuls who are using "quid-pro-quo campaign finance strategies" to meet the donor threshold, ABC News reported. Ramaswamy is offering his supporters a 10% cut of the donations they bundle for his campaign. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) says he will meet the 40,000 threshold after promising $20 gift cards to 50,000 donors who pledge at least $1 to his campaign.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez's super PAC announced last week that people who donate more than $1 to his campaign can enter a raffle for $15,000 of college tuition, and Suarez himself told conservative activists Sunday that donors who give $1 or more will be entered into a contest for a front row seat at Argentine soccer legend Lionel Messi's debut with Inter Miami on Friday.

Trump, who is crushing his GOP competitors in the polls and among small-money donations, suggested Sunday he may skip the debate his rivals are hustling to earn a spot in. "When you have a big lead, you don't do it. And we have a lead of 50 and 60 points in some cases, and some of these people are at 0," he said on Fox News. "Why would you let somebody that's at 0 — or 1 or 2 or 3 — be popping you with questions?"