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Trump says he'll spend "whatever it takes" of his own money to win re-election

08 September 2020
 Dan Ackermann

President Trump told reporters on Tuesday that he'll spend "whatever it takes" of his own money if necessary to win in November, stressing that it's "the most important election in the history of our country."

Why it matters: The comments come after reports that Trump's campaign is having real money concerns — an unusual position for an incumbent that has worried GOP operatives. The campaign has yet to release its August fundraising, but Joe Biden and the Democrats say they raised a record-breaking $364.5 million last month.

  • Some of the notable expenses for the Trump campaign include $11 million on Super Bowl advertising, roughly $4 million to Trump businesses since 2019 and approximately $156,000 on planes for aerial banners, according the New York Times.
  • "We have much more money than we had last time going into the last two months, I think double or triple" Trump claimed. "But if we needed any more, I'd put it up personally."

Trump tweeted later Wednesday that China and COVID-19 are to blame for his shortfalls.

  • "Because of the China Virus, my Campaign, which has raised a lot of money, was forced to spend in order to counter the Fake News reporting about the way we handled it (China Ban, etc.). We did, and are doing, a GREAT job, and have a lot of money left over, much more than 2016," he tweeted.
  • "Like I did in the 2016 Primaries, if more money is needed, which I doubt it will be, I will put it up!"

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.