Donald Trump's campaign said it raised nearly $300 million in May as it benefited from a new surge of support among small-dollar donors on top of an existing strength with billionaires.
The potent combination is clearly helpful for Trump as he tries to close a fundraising gap with President Joe Biden ahead of a final campaign sprint this summer and fall.
Though the full picture isn't yet available of how each candidate did in May, Trump's incoming money appears to be roughly split between groups catering to small and larger donors.
Of the total, $141 million went to Trump's formal campaign and the Republican National Committee, where maximum donations are capped.
The remaining millions went to "Trump-supporting organizations" that include SuperPACs, where the wealthy can give as much as they want.
Other data will be released in the coming days and weeks — from how much Biden raised in May to how much Trump now has in the bank — but the former president's campaign is already calling it the best month ever recorded for any campaign in history.
The surge in small-dollar contributions may level off in June, but Trump is set to continue raising large amounts of billionaire cash. The former president is set to travel to California on Thursday for a fundraiser with tech billionaires.
One of the co-hosts of this week's event is investor David O. Sacks, who has been an outspoken Trump evangelist in Silicon Valley.
He said on a recent episode of his podcast that he hopes this week's event will "break the ice" and allow more business leaders to openly donate. It "could really cascade on itself," he added.
Thursday's event will be co-hosted by Sacks and venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya.
For his part, President Biden traveled to the Connecticut town of Greenwich Monday night for his own fundraiser hosted by former HBO CEO Richard Plepler. In his remarks, Biden again accused Trump of "selling his presidency to the higher bidder."
Why they give
The surge in small donors was clearly driven by the outcome of Trump's hush money trial, with the campaign saying it raised $53 million online in the 24 hours after Trump's conviction on May 30.
The surge in donations was so intense that WinRed — an online platform for giving to Republicans — even temporarily crashed.
"We are moved by the outpouring of support for President Donald J. Trump," Trump senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in a statement, adding it "sent Biden and Democrats a powerful message."
But the equally sizable big-money tally was a reflection of a host of wealthy Americans — Blackstone (BX) CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman and oil executive Harold Hamm, to name just two — offering new support for Trump recently.
These big-dollar donors have tended to cite an array of issues from taxes to Israel. Schwarzman himself cited "the dramatic rise of antisemitism" as a key reason for his decision to support Trump in a recent statement.
The verdict last week also pushed at least some business elites to donate. Sequoia partner Shaun Maguire announced a $300,000 donation on social media immediately after the verdict.
"I'm prepared to lose friends," he wrote in an extended post about how he moved from being a Hillary Clinton supporter in 2016 to backing Trump today.
And Trump himself is making the case to these billionaires and their financial interests. Report after report — many from the Washington Post's Josh Dawsey — have documented a slew of promises that Trump is reportedly making to wealthy executives, both for their bottom lines and their businesses.
Under Biden "you're going to have the biggest tax increase in history," Trump reportedly told one gathering, massively exaggerating the expiration of provisions in the 2017 Trump tax cut that are set to transpire next year.
Potentially untapped billionaire money
The wave of support also comes as Trump draws closer and closer to other billionaire donors who haven't yet announced plans to donate but are already lending their influence in support of his campaign.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has forged a relationship with Trump and often touts the former president's ideas — and slams Biden — on his X account.
A recent Wall Street Journal investigation also found that Trump and Musk talk regularly and were even discussing a possible formal advisory role if Trump wins. Musk has denied that any discussions around a role have taken place.
Pershing Square Capital CEO Bill Ackman is another traditional GOP megadonor who appears to be inching closer to Trump. He has signaled he is likely to support Trump after helping Nikki Haley and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in recent months.
Ben Werschkul is Washington correspondent for Yahoo Finance.
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