No More the Self-Funding Donald

It wasn’t too long ago, so you might remember when Donald Trump was attacking his Republican primary opponents for relying on outside donors to fund their campaigns. Since he was self-funding his campaign Trump would not be beholden to special interests and the donor class.

As the Wall Street Journal explains this morning:

… Mr. Trump … has for months portrayed his Republican opponents as “puppets” for relying on super PACs and taking contributions from wealthy donors that he said came with strings attached.

Now, being ultra-rich—according to his own declamations—Mr. Trump has changed his mind. He will not self-fund his campaign but will raise money from rich donors.

The Journal explains:

Facing a prospective tab of more than $1 billion to finance a general-election run for the White House, Donald Trump reversed course Wednesday and said he would actively raise money to ensure his campaign has the resources to compete with Hillary Clinton’s fundraising juggernaut.

For a man who is worth $10,000,000,000 a mere billion should not be that much of a strain.  Except that it is. Perhaps someone should take a look at those tax returns.

But, the problem might be more political than financial:

Beginning to actively fundraise while a super PAC backing him also ramps up activity means the billionaire will no longer have that line of attack to use against his Democratic opponent. The move is also likely to put off some Trump supporters, many of whom have said his reliance mostly on his own funds makes them trust him more than other politicians.

Truth be told, it probably will not matter. Trump supports are a hardy crew. It will take more than a little deception to curb their enthusiasm.