Trump-RNC pact puts Trump legal bills ahead of GOP
The former president has struck a deal with the Republican National Committee to put donations toward his legal bills


What happened
Former President Donald Trump has reached an "unorthodox" joint fundraising deal with the Republican National Committee that directs donations to Trump's campaign and his Save America PAC, the political action committee paying his hefty legal bills, before the RNC gets a cut, The Associated Press said Thursday.
Who said what
Don't believe the "BS coming from Trump," former RNC chair Michael Steele said. "The RNC will absolutely find ways to pay his bills, because otherwise why is [daughter-in-law] Lara Trump co-chair?" Donors can give only $5,000 to Save America, so "the Trump campaign, the RNC and state GOP parties ultimately receive the overwhelming majority" of large donations the joint "Trump 47 Committee" collects, campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said.
What next?
The Trump 47 Committee is hosting a high-dollar April 6 fundraiser that could help Trump shrink President Joe Biden's large financial advantage. "There's still hesitation, but many big donors are coming around," GOP donor Dan Eberhart told Fox News. Their "big concern is Trump's legal bills and how their money will be used."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Scattered Spider: who are the hackers linked to M&S and Co-op cyberattacks?
The Explainer 'Decentralised and adaptive', its mainly English-speaking members operate like an 'organised criminal network'
-
The best birdwatching spots in the UK
The Week Recommends Grab your binoculars to spot puffins, oystercatchers and chiffchaffs
-
'Making memories': the scourge of modern parenting?
In The Spotlight Meghan Markle sends her children emails of each day's 'moments' but is constant 'memory-making' just another burden for parents to bear?
-
Deportations ensnare migrant families, U.S. citizens
Feature Trump's deportation crackdown is sweeping up more than just immigrants as ICE targets citizens, judges and nursing mothers
-
Trump shrugs off warnings over trade war costs
Feature Trump's tariffs are spiraling the U.S. toward an economic crisis as shipments slow down—and China doesn't plan to back down
-
Harvard stares down Trump's tax threat as other schools take note
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Higher ed is on high alert as the nation's premier university prepares to take on the fight of its life
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump's first 100 days: the reshaping of America
Talking Point The second Trump White House is 'less a new administration', and more a 'vengeful monarchy'
-
Trump moves to gut PBS and NPR in latest salvo against the media
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The president's executive order targeting two of the nation's largest public broadcasters comes as the White House seeks to radically reframe how Americans get their news
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations