Getty Trump, king of free media, finally bankrolls campaign GOP leader lent his campaign $12.8 million, but spent it in highly unconventional fashion.

Donald Trump finally put his money where his mouth is ― loaning his presidential campaign $10.8 million in the last three months of last year, accounting for 80 percent of all the cash he brought in, according to a report filed Sunday night with the Federal Election Commission.

In all, the billionaire real estate showman ― whose improbable front-running campaign for the GOP nomination is centered around the idea that his wealth makes him incorruptible ― has lent or donated $12.8 million to his campaign. That accounts for two-thirds of the $19 million that the campaign has brought in to date ― a sum that is dwarfed by those of other top-tier candidates.


Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, for example, has raised $112 million, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who’s running second to Trump in most GOP polls, has raised $47 million.

But Trump hasn’t needed to spend money like more traditional candidates to reach voters. He’s benefited from a deluge of media coverage that has allowed him to drive the debate almost from the moment he entered the race in mid-June.

He’s spent only $12.4 million since then, with $6.9 million of that coming in the last three months of the year, according to his FEC report.

A significant portion of that, $940,000, was spent on campaign paraphernalia, including yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons, t-shirts and, of course, hats. In fact, about $450,000 ― or nearly 7 percent of all Trump’s fourth-quarter spending ― went towards hats, presumably including the now-iconic hats bearing Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

That’s more money than the campaign paid its data vendor L2 (which received $235,000 for “research consulting”) or than it spent on strategy consulting ($281,000). It’s almost as much as the campaign spent on field consulting ($551,000) or payroll ($518,000).

Trump’s campaign did spend $793,000 on expenses related to the mega-rallies that have become his campaign’s hallmarks, as well as $459,000 on expenses related to having his name appear on primary election ballots.

But his highly unconventional campaign spending is likely to fuel questions about whether his campaign has built enough infrastructure to convert the energy he’s tapped into votes.

His campaign has argued that he doesn’t need as much infrastructure because of the organic enthusiasm for him.