President-elect Donald Trump defeated former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton despite spending half as much as the leader of a relatively unified Democratic Party, according to the latest financial disclosure reports.

Clinton held her fundraising edge until the very end. She spent about $132 million in the final period of the campaign, even as Trump's spent $95 million after firing up his fundraising operation. The periods cover October 20 through November 28.

Over the course of the campaign, when outside superpacs are added, Clinton and allied groups spent $1.2 billion, according to Politico. Trump and his allies spent a comparably paltry $600 million.

Then it comes to receipts brought in by the campaigns themselves over the course of the race, Trump raised $340 million to Clinton's $581 million. Clinton had a head start, not to mention a vaunted funraising operation and a long line of top bundlers who aided her efforts.

President-elect Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton despite spending half as much as she did, when outside group spending is considered

She also had the advantage of being expected to win by many top figures on Wall Street and in industry, not to mention the media.

Trump boasted about his campaign's spending efficiency throughout the campaign, including during the primaries, when he defeated a series of well-funded opponents.

The mogul personally kicked in $66 million, including $10 million in the campaign's final stretch

Trump's campaign spent about $95 million in the final push for the White in its final push for the White House, according to new fundraising reports filed Thursday.

Hillary Clinton assembled a vaunted fundraising operation and 900-person staff, but still ended up losing

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Brad Parscale, Trump's digital director who was empowered with spending decisions across the campaign, credited strategic last-minute investments with helping propel the political newcomer to victory.

He told The Associated Press the campaign and Republican Party spent about $5 million in get-out-the-vote digital advertising targeted in the final few days to Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Florida.

Trump's spending on media buys doubled in the final period, despite the candidate's sometimes dismissive statements about the utility of TV ads. He spent $39 million, p from $19 million during the period, according to CNBC.

That proved critical; some of those states were won by razor-thin margins. Trump peeled all of them away from the Democratic column.

"You think, what if we hadn't spent that?" Parscale said. "We might not have won."

The numbers don't account for external factors that were as critical as any carefully crafted TV ad. Trump got an enormous amount of free or 'earned media' through his unonventional use of Twitter, call-in interviews to cable shows, and regular appearances on prime time Fox News shows such as 'Hannity.'

And even as Clinton tried to boost her own image and eviscerate Trump with paid ads attacking his treatment of women, she had to contend with a non-stop drip of bad publicity brought on by her own decision to use a private email server. She also was dealt a blow by external factors like the hacking of her campaign chairman John Podesta, which led to a slew of embarassing and negative stories.

The reports filed Thursday with the Federal Election Commission cover Oct. 20 through Nov. 28.

Over the course of the primary and general elections, the Trump campaign raised about $340 million. That included $66 million that the billionaire businessman contributed from his own pocket. The Clinton campaign, which maintained a longer and more concerted fundraising focus, brought in about $581 million.

President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence react to supporters during a rally, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Another investment that he said paid dividends was $7 million to air a two-minute "closing" television commercial. "Our movement is about replacing the failed and corrupt political establishment with a new government controlled by you, the American people," he said as images from his rallies rolled across the screen.

The final FEC report showed the extent of the Trump advertising splurge. The campaign spent nearly $39 million on last-minute TV ads and another $29 million on digital advertising and consulting work done by Parscale's firm.

Clinton's campaign placed a far greater emphasis than Trump on television advertising, a more traditional way of reaching swaths of voters. She spent $72 million on TV ads and about $16 million on internet ads in the final weeks.

The former secretary of state also spent more than $12 million on travel — about double what Trump spent. Clinton, who not only had a money advantage over Trump but a staffing edge, spent more than $4 million on a nearly 900-strong payroll.

Still, Clinton's top campaign aides have acknowledged in post-election appearances that it didn't always spend money in the right places.

Her campaign manager Robby Mook said at a gathering of political strategists and journalists last week at Harvard University that he regretted not putting more staff in Michigan. When the state certified its results — 20 days after the election— Trump had won by just under 11,000 votes.

Outside groups that spent money on the presidential election also filed reports Thursday.

Trump got help from the super political action committees Future 45, Make America Number 1 and Rebuilding America Now.

Future 45 and a partner nonprofit that does not disclose donors spent late in the campaign but became Trump's biggest outside investors. Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and his wife, Miriam, together gave $10 million to Future 45 in the final weeks of the campaign, the new reports show.

Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, who Trump named this week as head of the Small Business Administration, gave $1 million to the group in October. She'd earlier given $6 million to Rebuilding America Now.

Make America Number 1 benefited from a $1 million donation by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, now an executive on the Trump transition team.

On Clinton's side, Priorities USA — which raised and spent more than any super PAC in history — landed $16 million in the final weeks of the campaign. That brought its total haul to about $192 million.

Some of the group's final seven-figure contributions came from its most loyal donors: media mogul Haim Saban and investors James Simons and Donald Sussman.

The 2016 election is over — but the fundraising continues.

The president-elect has raised millions of dollars since Nov. 8. That money is coming in mostly through purchased merchandise such as hats and ornaments and is paying for Trump's "thank you" tour, which took him to Ohio and Iowa on Thursday.

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