Trump's PAC, Save America, is opting supporters into extra 'surprise' donations for his birthday

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  • Trump's PAC, Save America, is asking supporters to donate extra money on his birthday.

  • It says it wants to surprise Trump "with a record breaking fundraising day," and opts supporters into an extra donation.

  • There aren't many restrictions on how the donations to the PAC could be spent.

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Save America, the political action committee (PAC) created by Donald Trump, is urging donors to "surprise" the former president with extra money on his birthday.

When supporters donate via Save America's site, the website automatically ticks a box saying they would like to donate the same amount on Trump's birthday, which is June 14.

Screenshot from Save America about Trump's birthday donations
The website automatically ticks a box saying that they would like to make a donation of the same value on Trump's birthday. Grace Dean/Save America

For example, if a supporter donates $250, the website automatically opts them in to donating an additional $250 on June 14.

"President Trump's birthday is coming up on June 14th and we want to surprise him with a record breaking fundraising day!" the box reads. "Will you help us?"

The webpage also automatically ticks a box to say the supporter wants to make their contribution a monthly donation.

Trump plans to start holding rallies again and has continued to hint at a 2024 run at the White House.

The website said that the donations would go towards the Save America joint fundraising committee. It said that 90% of the proceeds would go to the Save America PAC and 10% would go to the Make America Great Again PAC (MAGAPac), which was formerly his presidential campaign committee.

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By pushing donations through his PAC, Trump is trying to siphon donations away from the Republican National Committee and into his own fund, Insider's Julie Gerstein reported. Neither the Save America PAC nor MAGAPac is directly affiliated with the Republican Party.

The Save America PAC was created in November after Trump lost the election to President Joe Biden. The Independent reported that it had around $85 million cash on hand, and hasn't yet spent any money supporting or opposing any specific candidates. The PAC raised more than $31 million during the 2020 cycle, mostly through grassroots fundraising appeals that called for help overturning the 2020 election results.

Insider's Oma Seddiq reported that there weren't many restrictions on how the donations to the PAC could be spent, so Trump could use the funds for himself, though he can't directly use them for his own future political campaign.

Save America screenshot urging donations
Save America's website urges Trump's supporters to make donations. Grace Dean/Save America

An analysis by The Independent found that Save America sent at least one text message to supporters every day in May, urging them to donate money. Ahead of fundraising deadlines, some texts were sent just hours apart, the publication found.

It reported that some of the texts looked like they were personally written by Trump or his relatives, including his children Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and his wife Melania Trump.

"Eric & Don Jr: It's so important that we're BOTH texting you," a text sent to supporters read, per The Independent. "It's almost our father's birthday. You have 1HR to sign the card. Act NOW."

Read the original article on Business Insider