Trump makes cash grab in bid to dominate GOP

Donald Trump is tightening his grip on the Republican Party in the most painful way possible — he’s threatening to starve the GOP of funding.

Just in the past few weeks, Trump declared at the Conservative Political Action Conference that the “only” way to give to Trump-aligned candidates was through Save America, his leadership political action committee, circumventing the party campaign arms devoted to electing Republicans. He has criticized the party for how it spends donor money, and his attorneys have sent cease-and-desist letters to GOP committees demanding they stop using his name in fundraising appeals.

In case his message wasn’t clear enough, Trump followed up this week by proclaiming that “no more money” should be given to “RINOS” — Republicans in Name Only. On Tuesday, he said in another statement that sending cash to his PAC would be "doing it right."

The offensive underscores Trump’s determination to maintain his hold over the GOP, even out of the White House. By urging givers to route his money through his political vehicle, the former president is attempting to monopolize the Republican Party donor base — and bend the GOP to his will by depriving it of cash.

According to conversations with nearly a dozen Republican officials and strategists inside and outside Trump's orbit, the former president's move could have profound implications for the party, which is relying on him to fill its bank account ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. Trump is a fundraising behemoth, laying claim to a massive, activist-minded small-donor base that GOP candidates have spent years tapping into.

“Everyone else is cashing in on his popularity with the base, and he wants to control that money. Trump wants to have influence, and one of the greatest ways to have influence is to control the cash,” said Mike DuHaime, a former Republican National Committee political director.