Donald Trump's 'fresh thinking' on display in unusual campaign spending
![Donald Trump is spending a lot of his campaign money on himself](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RGjkcA8n3xrg6jxBvYq4QF-415-80.jpg)
Donald Trump spent all last fall and much of the winter defying the conventional wisdom about presidential campaigns, and he's apparently hoping to ride his unorthodox campaign choices all the way to victory in the November election, according to Federal Election Commission filings examined by The Wall Street Journal. Half of his campaign's 10 highest-paid consultants have never worked for another presidential campaign, for example, versus just one of Hillary Clinton's top 10 consultants.
"Trump wants people with fire in the belly," not necessarily experience, political consultant Stuart Jolly tells The Journal. "Loyalty is right up there at the top." Don McGahn, the Trump campaign's general counsel, added: "Fresh thinking is good." Despite earlier frugality, Trump is increasing his campaign spending, though he still isn't paying much for TV ads or field operations, outsourcing much of his get-out-the-vote effort to the Republican National Committee.
Notably, $15 million of the $90 million he spent through July — or about 17 percent of his total spending — was "paid to companies linked to himself or his children, or to reimburse their travel expenses," The Wall Street Journal said. That includes a total of $881,000 paid in rent for his campaign headquarters inside his own Trump Tower, a number that caught people's attention when the monthly rent jumped 500 percent as soon as campaign donors started footing the bill, even though Trump's staff didn't grow.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
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.
A Trump spokesman told The Journal that Trump raised his own rent because he expanded the office space in anticipation of more campaign staff, and his general counsel, McGahn, said the use of campaign funds at Trump properties — including at least five Trump golf resorts, three Trump restaurants, and a wine company owned by son Eric Trump — complies with FEC rules and is only logical: "It makes perfect sense to me that you're going to use facilities that you know are of a certain quality." Read more about Trump's campaign spending at The Wall Street Journal.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
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.
-
Why is China stockpiling resources?
The Explainer The superpower has been amassing huge reserves of commodities at great cost despite its economic downturn
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Tattoo prediction
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
Menendez convicted of bribery, fraud, and extortion
Speed Read The New Jersey Democratic Senator was found guilty in a federal corruption trial
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Florida judge dismisses Trump documents case
Speed Read Judge Aileen Cannon ruled that special counsel Jack Smith was improperly appointed
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Hamas says military chief survived Israeli strike
Speed Read An Israeli bombing failed to hit its intended target, military commander Mohammed Deif, but killed at least 90 Palestinians
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
First Israeli report on Oct. 7 finds 'severe mistakes and errors' in IDF response
Speed Reads Israeli military admits failures in response to deadly Hamas attack that triggered Gaza war
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Biden saw neurologist during physicals
Speed Read Following his bad debate performance, many are asking questions about the president's brain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Russia bombs Kyiv children's hospital
Speed Reads The daytime barrage interrupted heart surgeries and killed at least 40 people
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published