Top Trump super PAC strategist says Trump is 'looking into the abyss'

(Image credit: JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 21 June 2016

On Monday, Federal Election Commission filings revealed that Donald Trump's fundraising effort is, shall we say, a bit low-energy. Rather than amass a large-scale fundraising operation for himself and the rest of the Republican ticket, Trump has apparently used much of his money to reimburse himself and his family for campaign expenses. And, as revealed in a report in The Washington Post on Tuesday, it seems Trump is less than keen on the idea of reaching out to party bigwigs for cash — despite calling on the GOP to "come on" board the Trump Train.

Per discussions with several party operatives, the Post revealed that Team Trump has hardly placed calls to any well-positioned, deep-pocketed would-be supporters. "No donors that I deal with — and I deal with national, Jewish, and women donors — none of them has gotten a phone call," said Lisa Spies, a longtime fundraising consultant for the Republican Party. Fred Malek, the finance chairman of the Republican Governors Association, said that "there's no way in this short time frame that's available [can Trump] build the kind of organization that will be competitive financially [against Hillary Clinton]." And particularly damning is this quote from pro-Trump super PAC strategist Ed Rollins:

"To raise money, you have to ask for money," Spies said. The Trump campaign claims that its FEC report for July will reflect a much more robust fundraising operation. To read more about Trump's finance fiasco, head to The Washington Post.