Donald Trump’s newly created PAC has ‘already raised $60m’ as White House exit approaches

Donald Trump is due to hand over the US presidency to Joe Biden on January 20

Credit: Evan Vucci
/AP

Donald Trump’s newly created Political Action Committee (PAC) has already reportedly raised $60 million, giving the out-going US president considerable financial muscle for whatever he does next.

The money has come in via the Republican Party’s intense donation drive since the US election, much of which centres on Mr Trump’s unproven claim of mass voter fraud.

In the small print on many call-outs for funds via texts and emails to supporters is information noting that some of the cash raised will actually be going to Mr Trump’s new PAC.

The New York Times has reported that out of the $250 million gathered by the Republican Party since the election, some $60 million has gone to the PAC, which is called Save America.

Such funds could be spent on anything from supporting loyalist congressional candidates or opposing critics seeking office to paying for Mr Trump’s future travel and rallies.

It remains unclear whether Mr Trump wants to continue his political career, return to business, launch his own media operation or perhaps all three.

There is persistent speculation that the US president could run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, hoping for the ultimate comeback, but others doubt he ultimately will.

One friend of Mr Trump who talked to him this week told The Telegraph: “He would like to think he would be back, but I’m not sure he would want to come back. I think he will find post-presidency that he will have the influence without a lot of the aggravation.”

The cash sums awaiting Mr Trump once he leaves the White House on January 20 will be unlike anything enjoyed by recent Oval Office occupants. Often former presidents dedicated themselves to philanthropic works.

Bill Clinton set up a charitable foundation with his wife and former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Barack Obama has dedicated some time encouraging young people to vote and get engaged with politics, plus recently published the first volume of his memoirs.

However there is little sign Mr Trump is willing to forgo the limelight and give his successor Joe Biden time to set the new course of US government policy, as precedent dictates.

Mr Trump continues to fire out tweets denying he lost November’s presidential election, while commentating rarely on the soaring case and death numbers from Covid-19.

In a separate development, new scrutiny is falling on the legal structures created to spend funds raised for Mr Trump’s campaigning before the election. 

Both The New York Times and Business Insider published new details about American Made Media Consultants (AMMC), a limited liability company through which hundreds of millions of dollars of campaign funds were reportedly spent.

The media outlets reported that Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, and John Pence, the son of US vice president Mike Pence, had both served on the board.

Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Mr Trump, said: “Lara Trump and John Pence resigned from the AMMC board in October 2019 to focus solely on their campaign activities, however, there was never any ethical or legal reason why they could not serve on the board in the first place.”