Trump and Republicans narrow cash gap with Biden and Democrats

Donald Trump's presidential campaign and his Republican Party last month narrowed its cash gap with President Joe Biden's re-election effort, financial disclosures showed on Thursday, as both sides built their war chests ahead of the Nov 5 election.

Trump had $116 million in the bank at the end of May, more than double what it had a month earlier, while the Republican Party, which is raising money together with Trump to support his bid, had $54 million in cash, according to disclosures to the Federal Election Commission.

Their combined $170 million was still roughly $40 million less than the $212 million that Biden and the Democratic Party reported having in the bank, according to a statement they issued ahead of official filings due to the Federal Election Commission.

The gap between the two camps shrank from April, when Biden and his party had a $58 million cash advantage.

Trump's fundraising has surged since then, including during the weeks leading up to his May 30 conviction on charges he falsified business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star.

Biden and the Democrats said they raised $85 million in May, compared to $141 million that Trump and the Republicans have reported raising.

Both camps are also ramping up fundraising from billionaires who are allowed to give unlimited sums to groups allied to the campaigns known as super PACs.

A separate filing on Thursday showed conservative billionaire Timothy Mellon, an heir of the Pittsburgh-based Mellon banking family, gave $50 million last month to a pro-Trump super PAC known as MAGA Inc.

MAGA Inc has been ramping up outlays on television ads supporting Trump's bid, with the torrent of spending helping pro-Trump allies outspend Biden's allies in recent weeks.

MAGA Inc disclosed in a filing to the Federal Election Commission that it took in more than $68 million from donors last month, with most of the money coming from Mellon and another $10 million from billionaires Liz and Dick Uihlein, who founded the Uline shipping and packaging company from their basement in 1980.

Mellon, who lives in Wyoming and is rarely photographed, is an amateur pilot who has invested in and led transport-related companies. Forbes estimates that the Mellon family is worth some $14.1 billion.

The billionaire Winklevoss twins, founders of cryptocurrency company Gemini, said they had donated $1 million in bitcoin to support Trump, but did not specify where the donations were sent.

On Biden's side, billionaire Mike Bloomberg has given nearly $20 million to two super PACs backing the president's re-election effort, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday.