Trump campaign, RNC have spent more than $1 billion since beginning of 2017, filings show

President Trump’s reelection campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) have spent more than $1 billion combined since the beginning of 2017, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. 

Most of that spending — nearly $625 million — was spent since the beginning of the 2020 election cycle in 2019. By comparison, at this point in the 2012 election cycle, former President Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) had spent about $481 million.

The massive spending by the Trump campaign and RNC speaks to how overwhelmingly expensive the 2020 presidential election will be. Since the beginning of 2019, the president’s political operation — consisting of his campaign, the RNC and two affiliated committees — has raked in more than $1 billion. 

But it also speaks to just how long the president has been campaigning for a second term in the White House. He filed to run for reelection the day he was sworn into office in January 2017 and has continued to fundraise, hold rallies and run political advertisements throughout his tenure as president.

In July alone, the RNC, the Trump campaign and its affiliated committees reported raising just shy of $170 million, FEC filings show. They ended the month with a combined $305 million in cash reserves. 

For both the Trump campaign and the RNC, July was the best single month for fundraising since Trump took office. It was also their highest-spending month. The Trump campaign alone dropped nearly $65 million in July, while the RNC spent nearly $46 million.

Democrats have begun closing their once-yawning cash gap with Trump and the GOP. Former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign and the DNC lagged behind Trump and the RNC in fundraising last month — they raised about $140 million combined — though they added about $50 million to their cash reserves, reporting a combined $294 million in cash on hand.

August may prove an even more lucrative month for both Biden and Trump. Biden saw a fundraising surge after he chose Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) as his running mate, pulling in $26 million in the day following his announcement.

And both parties are expected to see a boost in donations during and after their respective national conventions. Democrats wrapped up their convention Thursday night, while Republicans are gearing up for theirs to start Monday.