Thread by @ShaneGoldmacher

NEW: Money was supposed to have been one of Trump’s great advantages. Now some inside the campaign are instead forecasting a cash crunch.

A deep dive w/ @maggienyt on where exactly the $800 million went and how Trump’s financial supremacy evaporated.
nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

The Trump campaign + RNC and their joint operations spent more than $350 million of the $1.1 billion raised since 2019 on fund-raising costs.
nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

There have been some unusual expenditures like ~$110,000 to Yondr, a company that makes magnetic pouches used to store cellphones during fund-raisers so that donors could not secretly record Trump and leak his remarks. nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

“I ran the campaign the same way I did in 2016, which also included all of the marketing, strategy and expenses under the very close eye of the family,” Brad Parscale tells me and @maggieNYT. “No decision was made without their approval.” nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

One contributing factor to Biden closing the cash gap: A full embrace of Zoom fundraisers with six-figure donors.

Trump has almost entirely refused to do these events.
nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

Since Bill Stepien, took over, there have been a number of belt-tightening moves involving hiring, travel and the ad budget.

Less trips on AF1 (which campaign has to pay for), instance.

nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

Some officials defended the early spending as prudent, especially on an expansive ground operation and an online network of donors powering campaign.

“The Biden campaign is hoarding money and hoping that fall TV ads help put them over the edge"
nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…

The Trump+RNC operation claims its knocking 1 million doors per week.

The Biden campaign is forgoing door knocking bc of pandemic.
nytimes.com/2020/09/07/us/…