In the 11 months since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025, the Republican National Committee has spent at least $796,513 at Trump-branded hotels and golf clubs, while MAGA Inc., his super PAC, has spent about $60,733, according to a HuffPost review of Federal Election Commission records.
Together, the $857,246 spent by the RNC and MAGA Inc. makes up a large share of the $1.1 million that Republican candidates and committees have directed to Trump properties so far this year. In all, 73 different GOP campaigns and party organizations have paid Trump-owned venues, with amounts ranging from minor charges to six-figure payments for major events.
The single largest expense occurred on May 2, when the RNC shelled out $307,202.49 for an event at Trump’s golf resort in Doral, near Miami’s airport. Two months earlier, on March 5, the committee spent $193,145.70 to hold an event at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
MAGA Inc. reported spending $20,711.84 on May 30 at Trump’s golf course in Sterling, Virginia. Individual Republican groups added to the overall total with their own payments, which ranged from relatively small sums to more than a thousand dollars apiece.
Channeling party money into Trump-owned businesses reflects an approach he embraced during his first term in the White House. Back then, his Washington, D.C., hotel took in substantial sums from Republican candidates and party committees. Trump later sold that property after he lost re-election and its business declined sharply.
Jordan Libowitz, communications director for the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, condemned the pattern of spending. “When Trump pulls in tens of millions of dollars from crypto deals, it’s easy to overlook the hundreds of thousands he siphons from his political operation, but those amounts add up,” he said.
Libowitz noted that donors originally gave the money to help elect candidates and advance a political program. He cautioned that if there is no boundary to how far Trump will go in using the presidency to enrich himself, then there may be no limit to the ways the country itself could be put up for sale.
These spending disclosures arrive as Trump’s approval rating has fallen to around 36 percent, according to a Gallup survey conducted November 3-25, 2025. This drop marks the low point of his second term and follows three months in which his numbers had been relatively steady.
Approval for Trump among Republicans has slipped to 84 percent, the weakest showing of his second term. Among independents, just 25 percent now say they approve of his performance.
Gallup conducted the poll as the federal government shutdown stretched into the longest in U.S. history, ending only on November 12, 2025. The survey period also covered off-year elections in which Democrats made gains.
Trump has openly leveraged his position to promote his business ventures in ways not seen among modern presidents. He highlighted crypto meme coins at a White House dinner for major buyers. His family’s cryptocurrency enterprise has taken in large sums from token sales, with a significant share of the money coming from foreign investors.
Meanwhile, Trump’s political fundraising network continues to chase small-dollar contributions through a steady stream of emails and text messages to supporters. His Never Surrender “leadership” PAC has brought in $28.1 million, money he can, for the most part, spend as he chooses, including on personal costs.
The Never Surrender PAC depends heavily on small donors who respond to frequent appeals. Recent pitches have claimed that Trump tried to call individual donors, promised to eliminate taxes on Social Security benefits, and asked recipients whether they love him.
Trump’s political position is also being tested inside his own party. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has questioned whether he still embodies the “America First” agenda, criticizing his foreign travel and focus on international affairs. Trump withdrew his endorsement of Greene on Friday, November 14.
Greene, once one of Trump’s staunchest allies, has recast herself as a skeptic of his administration’s priorities and a defender of the “America First” vision she says the president has abandoned. She has voiced concern that Trump is prioritizing global issues at the expense of domestic needs.
Despite the mounting controversies and slipping approval ratings, Trump is barred by the Constitution from seeking another term after this one ends. Even so, his fundraising machinery remains in high gear, with multiple committees pulling in millions from contributors while steering hundreds of thousands of dollars to his own business properties.