President Donald Trump's campaign biggest expenses at the end of 2018 were for advertising. | Sean Rayford/Getty Images 2020 elections Trump campaign spending erupts as president enters reelection mode The president's campaign spending rose sharply to $23 million in the last months of 2018, driven by rallies and advertising.

President Donald Trump’s campaign went on a massive spending blitz at the end of 2018 — a sharp increase in outlays, driven by midterm election rallies and digital advertising, that marks an unofficial kickoff to his 2020 reelection effort.

Trump’s campaign spent $23 million in the last three months of the year, four times what it spent in previous quarters in 2018, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. The spending spree included major costs incurred for rallies and TV advertising as Trump campaigned for Republican candidates across the country in the midterms.


But heavy spending continued in the weeks after the 2018 midterms concluded, with Trump and affiliated committees spending millions advertising on digital platforms as they rev up the president’s base for a fierce two-year reelection campaign. The filings highlight how Trump, who started fundraising for his reelection earlier than any other president in history, is operating a fully functional national political machine as his potential Democratic opponents just step foot on the campaign trail.

The Trump campaign brought in $6.9 million, while his entire political operation — including the campaign, two joint fundraising committees and the Republican National Committee — raised $21 million in the final quarter of 2018, compared with $18 million that it raised during the prior quarter. Trump’s campaign finished with $19 million in the bank to start 2019.

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“Midway through the first term of his presidency, President Donald Trump continues to deliver on his campaign promises to the American people and they continue to demonstrate their support for him in contributions to his reelection campaign,” Trump campaign COO Michael Glassner said in a statement.

The Republican National Committee reported on Thursday that it raised $7.7 million during December. The committee finished the year with $23 million cash on hand.

Trump filed for reelection shortly after announcing his bid for president, and began traversing the country in early 2018 raising money from donors for the campaign operation, which has raised more than $100 million. More recently, the campaign has begun building out a foundation for 2020: In December, for example, it announced a plan to split its headquarters between New York and the D.C. area.

In the days after the November elections, top Trump campaign aides huddled at one of the new locations to plot how the campaign would be organized, including which GOP operatives should lead operations in key states. The campaign had 16 people on its payroll during the last three months of 2018, according to the new disclosures.

Travel and events in October absorbed a large chunk of the campaign’s funds, as Trump held a series of rallies in battleground states with key Senate and gubernatorial races. The Trump campaign spent $2.1 million on payments marked as audio visual services and close to $1 million on facility rentals during the last three months of the year. Additionally, the campaign disclosed owing an estimated $1 million to the U.S. Department of the Treasury for travel expenses.

The Trump campaign’s biggest expenses at the end of 2018 were for advertising. The Trump campaign disclosed spending $3.4 million for online advertising and related expenses and $4.4 million for “placed media.” The campaign did not specify what media it referred to in the disclosure.

As with the president's midterm travel, that media spending also primed Trump's reelection effort. The campaign's ads often include options for people to sign up for email lists or text their name to a number to get more information. That organization will prove valuable for Trump's campaign later on, both for fundraising and rallying supporters in 2020.

Another sign the campaign was shifting into high gear: It spent $2.4 million in payments marked as “collateral” for merchandise such as banners, fleeces, T-shirts, medals and $289,673 alone for hats.

The campaign's spending continued after the midterm elections. Trump and one of his joint fundraising committees spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Facebook between the November elections and the end of 2018, according to the social networks ad disclosure portal. And the spending on digital advertising has increased in early 2019, Facebook data shows.