Not only did Donald Trump buck the trend towards presidential candidates being supported by their own super PACs, some of the biggest donors on the right donated huge sums to super PACs that spent heavily against him. | AP Photo Trump spent less to win more The businessman actually decreased spending in February, while rivals and hostile super PACs ramped up.

As Donald Trump was racking up an impressive string of GOP primary victories last month, he was actually spending less than his nearest rival Ted Cruz and just a tiny fraction of his would-be general election opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton, according to campaign finance filings.

The filings, submitted Sunday with the Federal Election Commission, show that, while Cruz and Clinton continue to amass campaign infrastructure, Trump mostly continues to skate by on a tour de force of splashy rallies, free media and Twitter taunts.


Trump spent $9.5 million in February, compared with Cruz’s $17.5 million and Clinton’s $31.6 million, according to the filings. They show that the biggest February spender was Clinton’s stubborn rival for the Democratic nomination Bernie Sanders, who spent $41 million as he desperately tried to keep pace with Clinton.

In fact, while Cruz, Clinton, Sanders and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (whose low-idling campaign spent $3.6 million last month) all increased their spending in February, Trump actually decreased his.

It’s a remarkable stat that’s a testament to just how completely Trump has defied campaign industry conventions. But it also worries Republicans who are not convinced that Trump’s bare-bones operation will fare well in a general election against a Clinton juggernaut that has spent nearly a year assiduously cultivating a major donor network, stockpiling cash and strategically building infrastructure across the country.

By contrast, Trump continues to mostly self-fund his campaign, and he resisted efforts by allies to lend his support to a big money super PAC to support his campaign. While he and his allies have hinted that he might seek outside cash for a general election that is expected to cost upward of $1 billion for each party’s nominee and super PAC allies, his campaign’s Sunday FEC report suggests he’s in no rush to tinker with a formula that has been paying huge dividends for him in the GOP primary.

The billionaire real estate showman loaned his presidential campaign $7 million more in February, bringing his total contribution to his bid to $25 million in loans and donations, according to the report. In all, he has provided 71 percent of all the cash taken in by his campaign committee. He did accept $2 million in outside donations in February, bringing the total amount he’s accepted from donors to $9.5 million, according to the report. But it shows few signs that he’s spending serious cash to build a fundraising base.

Trump’s campaign spent $290,000 on data and telemarketing, but that was dwarfed by the $542,000 it spent on hats, T-shirts, mugs and stickers branded with the candidate’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

And Trump appears to have reduced his spending on payroll last month, when he paid $422,000 to slightly more than 100 employees. His aides who were paid as consultants were well-compensated, however, with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski’s firm reaping $75,000 in payments. (A source close to the campaign said Lewandowski had previously negotiated bonuses if Trump finished first or second in Iowa and New Hampshire, which he did.)

By comparison, Clinton’s campaign in February paid $2.7 million in payroll to nearly 800 employees, while Sanders paid about $5 million to a staff of about 900. Cruz’s campaign paid $343,000 to about 90 employees, while Kasich had about 45 employees on his February payroll.

The Trump campaign’s biggest expenditure last month was $3.5 million for advertising, which funded mostly television ads in some key states but paled in comparison to the ad spending by his rivals.

Clinton spent $17.4 million on ads in February, while Sanders spent about $20 million and Cruz and a network of supportive super PACs combined to spend more than $16 million.

Another area in which Trump’s campaign appears to lag is polling. In fact, there is no evidence that Trump spent any significant money on payments to polling firms. Clinton’s campaign spent $354,000 on polling in February, while Sanders spent nearly $600,000.

Not only did Trump buck the trend toward presidential candidates being supported by their own super PACs, some of the biggest donors on the right donated huge sums to super PACs that spent heavily against him.

A super PAC created to stop Trump from winning the GOP nomination, Our Principles PAC, raised $4.8 million last month, including $2 million from TD Ameritrade co-founder Joe Ricketts and his wife Marlene Ricketts (who have now donated a total of $5 million), according to a reported filed Sunday night with the FEC.

Our Principles PAC spent nearly $2 million on ads attacking Trump last month. It has continued its assault this month, as has the Club for Growth. It supercharged its fundraising to $4 million in February, including $2.5 million from the Arkansas investment bankers Warren and Jackson Stephens, who also donated $1 million to Our Principles PAC.

A constellation of pro-Cruz super PACs ended the month with $20.2 million cash on hand after raising $7.9 million and spending $11.5 million. Keep the Promise I, which started with an $11 million contribution from hedge fund billionaire Robert Mercer, dwindled to just $422,562, even after Mercer kicked in another $500,000 last month. On the other hand, Toby Neugebauer’s Keep the Promise II and the Wilks family’s Keep the Promise III still had $8.9 million and $9.4 million left, respectively.

The main pro-Clinton super PAC, Priorities USA Action, raised $4.9 million in February, including $2 million contributions from Newsweb chairman Fred Eychaner and Henry and Marsha Laufer. Though it committed to saving up for the general election, the group spent $5.3 million, ending the month with $44.5 million cash on hand, slightly less than it started with.

Of course, Trump has already vanquished a host of GOP candidates with more robust super PACs and campaign infrastructures, including former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.