Is the Trump campaign too broke to win the White House?

The news this week that Donald Trump has fallen woefully behind Democratic rival Hillary Clinton when it comes to fundraising, has left political advisors and pundits alike scratching their heads wondering if Trump’s cash shortfall means the New York billionaire can’t bring in the money to pay for a presidential campaign.

With the cost of running for the highest office in the land sitting at nearly $1 billion, has Trump's vow of self-funding his campaign become the kiss of death?

An Associated Press story says the presumptive GOP candidate is on the verge of being slammed with $41 million worth of commercials  from Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in battleground states such as Ohio, Florida and Nevada during the summer.

As the AP story points out, the ad buy is the result of Clinton's “near-constant fundraising.”  In May, Clinton had $42.4 million on hand. She raised $27 million in primary election money alone, in May. Since the primaries have ended, by federal law she must use  the money before the Democrat’s convention in July.

On the other side, Trump had $1.3 million on hand -- in presidential campaigns, hardly enough to keep the lights on.

What does Trump do now? Is it too late to catch up? Trump hit up donors on Tuesday, a day after it was announced that his campaign has moved into "another phase." On Monday, Trump fired his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. Sources have said off the record that one of the main reasons Lewandowski is gone is because fund raising was so anemic.

Trump, who claims to have a net worth upwards of $10 billion, has loaned his campaign money to operate. He was averaging $4.3 million a month through the primary season. However, in May, he began to rely more on donations, and only loaned his campaign $2.2 million, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Trump’s campaign finance report was released only a few days before stories that his campaign has funneled more than $1 million into businesses he owns.

According to the AP, 10 percent of the Trump's campaign’s outlays have gone to companies he owns. For instance, $423,317 went to his Mar-a-Lago Club, a venue he owns and, in essence, rents out to his campaign. Another $1 million has gone to buying campaign hats, signs, shirts, etc. that he sells at rallies and on his campaign website.

There is no such thing as an inexpensive run for the presidency,  and Trump’s earlier claims that he has spent “almost nothing” is only one side of the coin. The other being raising funds for when you will have to spend money.

So what kind of money are you talking about when it comes  to running for president? Where is the money spent? Where does it come from?

Here’s a quick look at the finances involved in running a campaign for president.

How much does it cost to run for president? 

First, start with the primaries. Running a campaign to win a presidential primary can range in cost from $50 million to more than $100 million. After the primaries are over, the attention turns to the one rival candidate in the general election,  and a nominee can expect to spend, by most estimates, another $800 million. The total cost for running for president is around $985,000,000.

Through March of this year, according to the Center for Public Integrity,  $1 billion has already been spent by presidential candidates and affiliated groups in the 2016 presidential race.

What is the money spent on?

The money for a presidential campaign goes to everyday things, like meals, travel and lodging, but the largest amounts go to advertising ($328 million), polling ($23 million), administering the campaign and paying the staff ($216 million).

Nearly $1 billion dollars to become president? That’s a huge number. Has it always cost so much to get to the Oval Office?

It’s not an inexpensive prospect. Here’s a look, courtesy of opensecrets.com, at what was spent in the past presidential election years.

2004 - $717.9 million

2000 - $343.1 million

1996 - $192.2 million

1992 - $239.9 million

1988 - $210.7 million

1984 - $103.6 million

1980 - $92.3 million

1976 - $66.9 million

(the numbers are not adjusted for inflation)

How many people donate to campaigns?

Not many. Fewer than 10 percent of Americans donate to any political campaign. Less than one-half of one percent of Americans contributed to a federal candidate, political action committee or national political party in the last major election in 2012.

Where does all the money come from, then?

The sources of funding are political action committees, large and small donors and money the candidate personally has.  The vast majority of the funds come from large donors.

How  much can you or I donate?

Individuals can donate up to $2,700 to each candidate per election  (the Federal Election Commission says that primaries, run-offs and the general election are separate elections); they can donate $5,000 per calendar year to a political action committee that donates to federal candidates; they can donate $10,000 to state, district and local party committees (combined) per calendar year; they can donate $33,400 to a national party committee per calendar year; they can donate $100,200 per additional party committee accounts in a year.

Wasn’t there a ruling that said we can give as much as we want?

If by "we" you mean corporations, unions and other independent groups, then yes. For the individual, not so much. A 5-4 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Citizens United v. the Federal Election Commission overturned a ban on corporate and union involvement in federal elections. The ruling allows corporations, unions and other organizations to spend unlimited sums to fund political advertisements. Those funds can only go to independent  expenditures, and cannot be directly donated to the candidate's campaigns.

Is the Trump campaign too broke to win the White House?

The Republican National Committee continues to out-raise the  Democratic National Committee, but that doesn’t mean the Trump campaign doesn’t face a tough road ahead. Time is definitely not a friend to someone who is lagging in fundraising. Trump’s campaign said this week “there are no concern” about money in the campaign.

According to CNN, Trump would have to raise $6 million to $8 million per day for two to three months to hit the amount he said he  would need to fund a general election campaign.

Sources: Opensecrets.org; wisegeek.org; The Associated Press; The New York Times; CNN; Investopedia; The Center for Public Integrity

Cox Media Group