Trump turns conviction into cash, with a record fundraising haul following guilty verdicts in trial

Donald Trump is cashing in on his convictions in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history.

The former president’s campaign announced on Friday morning that it had hauled in $34.8 million in fundraising from 6 p.m. ET to midnight on Thursday, immediately after Trump was found guilty of all 34 felony counts in his criminal trial in New York City.

The campaign highlighted in a release that they raked in ‘a record shattering small dollar fundraising haul’ as Trump battles President Biden in a 2024 election rematch.

They said the haul was ‘nearly double the biggest day ever recorded for the Trump campaign on the WinRed platform’ and emphasized that the guilty verdicts ‘have awakened the MAGA movement like never before.’

‘From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with support, and despite temporary delays online because of the amount of traffic, President Trump raised $34.8 million dollars from small dollar donors,’ Trump campaign senior advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles wrote in a statement.

They spotlighted that ‘not only was the amount historic, but 29.7% of yesterday’s donors were brand-new donors to the WinRed platform.’

And pointing to the autumn election, LaCivita and Wiles reiterated that ‘President Trump is fighting to save our nation and November 5th is the day Americans will deliver the real verdict.’

Trump earned applause from supporters as he commented Friday morning on what he described as ‘record’ fundraising. 

Minutes after the verdict was read in the first trial of a former or current president in the nation’s history, Trump’s team put out a fundraising appeal to supporters.

‘Friend: Is this the end of America?,’ Trump asked in the email. ‘I was just convicted in a RIGGED political Witch Hunt trial.’

‘My end-of-month fundraising deadline is just DAYS AWAY!’ Trump emphasized in the email, which included a photo of the former president labeling him a ‘political prisoner.’

WinRed, the GOP online fundraising platform used by Trump’s campaign, among others, briefly shut down within an hour of the verdict.

LaCivita advised donors encountering a WinRed error message to sign up for Trump’s text messaging list or log back onto the site and try again. 

‘If you are one of the millions of American Patriots wanting to donate to Donald Trump’s campaign and you get an error message from @WINRED …don’t give up! Log back on and try again ! or Text TRUMP to 88022,’ LaCivita wrote in a tweet.

Trump’s campaign website also directed donors to Anedot, another fundraising platform used by various GOP campaigns.

Trump’s team also fired off a warning shot to the campaigns of down-ballot Republicans not to try and raise money directly off of the former president’s conviction to prevent the ‘siphoning’ of donations headed to Trump’s coffers.

Meanwhile, the former president’s top pollsters put out a memo on the eve of the verdict arguing that a conviction would not have any electoral consequences.

Biden’s re-election campaign also quickly sent out fundraising appeals following the verdict.

‘Despite a jury finding Donald Trump guilty today, there is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box,’ the Biden campaign wrote in a fundraising text to supporters. 

And it urged that ‘if you have been waiting for the perfect time to make your first donation to Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, we’re here to tell you today is the day.’

Trump has been aiming to close his fundraising gap with Biden. In April, his campaign and the Republican National Committee for the first time outraised the Biden campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

While Trump has stepped up his fundraising, the Biden campaign still enjoyed an $84 million to $49 million cash-on-hand advantage at the end of April.