Top Republican Party donors have pushed back on fundraising for former President Donald Trump’s potential 2024 campaign and are instead focused on the 2022 midterm elections, CNBC reported Tuesday.

Almost immediately after leaving the White House in January, Trump has been raising funds from his supporters and amassing a sizable war chest for a possible run in 2024. While Trump remains the single most powerful Republican, the party’s deep-pocketed donors have been directing their big checks elsewhere.

Unnamed aides told CNBC that many donors are watching Trump’s political activities and are put off by how his groups spend funds. One aide explained that several donors don't support Trump rallies, where he continues to peddle misinformation about the 2020 election.

But Trump remains a popular figure in the party. According to Federal Election Commission donation data cited by CNBC, Trump raised $1.5 million between July and August from wealthy donors that include former Sen. Kelly Loeffler, Texas banking executive Andrew Beal and casino magnate Phillip Ruffin. Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO responsible for election-related conspiracies, also was among the donors to Trump.

Rather than focus on an election three years away, Republican donors have been spreading their checks out to efforts to secure control of Congress in the 2022 midterm elections. President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party is clinging to a thin majority in the House of Representatives and an evenly split Senate that is presided over by Vice President Kamala Harris as a tiebreaker on key bills.

The presidential race in 2024 is not completely off the radar of donors. According to CNBC’s reporting, previously loyal donors for Trump, like Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and real estate tycoon Stephen Ross, donated to other possible Republican candidates like Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina. A fundraiser in the Hamptons in Long Island was held in July for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely seen as a nominee frontrunner should Trump not run. In attendance were former Trump's Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Wall Street magnate John Paulson.

Some of the more influential donors have also remained conspicuously quiet. Miriam Adelson, the widow of Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, has not cut any checks yet for Trump, but donated to a political action committee connected to former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley. Robert and Rebekah Mercer, two prolific donors for Trump since 2016, have not donated to any of his organizations since his term in office came to an end.

RELATED STORIES