The presidential campaign of former President Donald J. Trump said in a letter to Republican vendors that candidates may use his name, image and likeness in campaign materials only if they send at least 5 percent of donations that they receive to Mr. Trump’s campaign.
The move in effect imposes a tax on using the Trump brand for campaign purposes. Mr. Trump has sought to close a significant financial gap between him and President Biden, his Democratic rival. The Biden campaign and its political committees reported $192 million in cash on hand at the end of March, more than double the $93 million of Trump and the Republican Party.
Danielle Alvarez, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, said in a statement that “it is important to protect small-dollar donors from scammers that use the president’s name and likeness.”
In a letter this week signed by Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita, who identified themselves as co-campaign managers, the campaign also said it was tightening control of campaign materials that use Mr. Trump’s name, prohibiting strident language that has become common in donor appeals such as “President Trump needs you” or “If you support President Trump, you’ll contribute now.”
The letter said the messaging guidelines were part of an effort “to treat our donors with the utmost respect.” After Mr. Trump appeared in court on Monday, the campaign sent a fund-raising pitch falsely claiming in all-capital letters that Mr. Trump had “just stormed out of Biden’s kangaroo court!” Mr. Trump had not actually stormed out of the Manhattan courthouse.
The letter added that the campaign would punish campaign vendors if candidates whom they worked with did not comply with the new rules.
“Repeated violations will result in the suspension of business relationships” with the Trump campaign and the national party, the letter said.
The campaign also encouraged Republican candidates and committees to kick up more than the 5 percent minimum for donations received.
“Any split that is higher than 5 percent will be seen favorably by the R.N.C. and President Trump’s campaign, and is routinely reported to the highest levels of leadership within both organizations,” the letter said.
Mr. Trump has for years feuded with Republican candidates and institutions who have solicited donations using Mr. Trump’s likeness without his approval. Weeks after leaving office, when many in the Republican establishment were seeking to distance themselves from the former president after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, Mr. Trump sent cease and desist letters to the party asking it to stop using his name and likeness. Many Republicans ignored him and continued to profit from his image.
But Mr. Trump is once again ascendant in the Republican Party, and the former president wields near-total control over party institutions like the Republican National Committee, which is now led by a close ally and Mr. Trump’s daughter-in-law.
He has also — in the midst of a felony criminal trial and a mountain of other legal trouble he is facing — spent more than $100 million on legal bills since leaving office in 2021, and Mr. Trump has an arrangement with the Republican Party that funnels a portion of political donations into paying his legal bills before any money goes to the party itself.
And the announcement is only the latest effort by Mr. Trump to leverage his personal brand. Just days after he was ordered to pay about $450 million in a civil fraud case in New York, Mr. Trump appeared at a footwear convention to hawk $400 Trump-branded sneakers for which he had licensed his name to another company.
The post Trump Demands a Cut of Donations From Campaigns That Use His Name appeared first on New York Times.