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Trump Camp Could Use New Donations to Reimburse His $36M Primary Loan
Friday, May 13, 2016 11:07 AM
By: Mark Swanson
With the self-funding part of his campaign stump gone by the wayside, the watch is now on to see if Donald Trump will use new funding to reimburse himself for money he spent during the Republican primary.
Trump has said he will raise hundreds of millions of dollars to run in the general election, and legally the real estate mogul could use that money to recoup on a loan he made to his campaign, NBC News reports.
Though Trump's campaign tells NBC News that's not an option being considered at the moment, it also declines to rule out the possibility. That's a softened stance from March, when Corey Lewandowski told the Associated Press: "He is not going to repay himself," according to NBC News.
The $35.9 million Trump lent to his campaign represents 75 percent of the total funds, NBC News reports, and, legally, Trump has until August to repay himself.
"He can't use general election money to repay his primary debt," former FEC lawyer Ken Gross told NBC News. "If he is going to repay it, he'll have to pay it back with contributions raised before the convention."
The main reason for self-funders to loan their campaign, as opposed to outright contributions, is the intent to recoup those funds down the line.
Recent presidential candidates who used loans vs. donations, include Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, Jon Huntsman and John Kerry. Though Clinton, Romney and Huntsman each converted their loans to contributions, NBC News reported.
The reason it's receiving attention with Trump is because he made it a core principle of his candidacy.
"The self-funding idea was a great P.R. point that helped him in the primary, but it's something that's simply not available in the general," Bob Mutch, author of Buying the Vote, told NBC News.
