Donald Trump faces an extraordinarily steep uphill climb, entering the month with several million dollars less than rival Hillary Clinton.
Clinton's campaign had $42 million on hand as of May 31, according to reports released Monday by the Federal Election Commission. Additionally, her super PAC, Priorities USA, has $52 million.
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By comparison, Trump's campaign had a measly $1.3 million.
Democrats plan to spend loads of cash on a salvo of television ads against Trump, who has shown little interest in matching the intense efforts. Clinton and those surrounding her are planning to spend $117 million between Tuesday and Election Day on television ads — mostly against Trump.
The brash billionaire just began actively fundraising in May with a $3.1 million haul and has a super PAC benefiting his campaign, but it only has $500,000 on hand. Trump, who largely self-funded his primary campaign, could presumably catch up to Clinton with a personal check, but has not indicated he will do so.
However, Trump has for months been touting the fact that he believes he can run a leaner campaign than Clinton and still win the presidency in November.
In addition, there is good reason to believe Trump may soon close the financial divide, as there are two remaining pro-Trump groups that have not yet announced their earnings, but are expected to bring in major hauls for their candidate. Trump also launched his partnership with the Republican National Committee, which allows for checks at $450,000 at a time, at the end of May.
Trump is attempting to raise $500 million as he works to construct a financial network from scratch. And, in an era the deals in billions, that target is low, but some worry he can't reach it.
This comes the same day Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was ousted, sparking a whirlwind of media chatter about the stability of the presumptive Republican nominee's national apparatus.
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