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Often cast as a self-funded outsider candidate, Trump has only spent about $2 million on his entire campaign thus far, a stunning low number compared to his GOP rivals such as Ben Carson and Sen. Ted Cruz, who have each spent $5.5 million through July alone according to the latest FEC reports.
Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has spent over $18 million in the same period, according to MSNBC.
Trump, whose brash, incendiary style has drawn him plenty of media coverage, had said in August that he’d be willing to spend up to a billion dollars on his presidential bid. And although it remains to be seen if the real-estate billionaire would be willing to open his wallet, his current frugal style is working.
As the idiom goes, there’s no such thing as bad press. And right now, Trump is the living example of publicity that money can’t buy. The first two Republican debates drew 24 million and 23 million viewers, respectively, and much of the spotlight was focused on Trump.
Speaking to the NY Times last month, Trump said that he had planned on spending $15 million on campaign commercials over the summer, but decided not to due to the “free nationwide publicity” he was receiving from cable news networks.
"I’ve gotten so much free advertising, it’s like nothing I’d have expected,” he said. “When you look at cable television, a lot of the programs are 100 percent Trump, so why would you need more Trump during the commercial breaks?”
For better or worse, Trump’s tight budgeting thus far could mean a long campaign road ahead for the presidential hopeful.
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