Trump Is in Full Grudge Mode Against the GOP Right Now

Former President Donald Trump wants conservative donors to stop giving money to other Republicans. Oh, and he doesn’t want to help the GOP raise money anymore either. 

Fresh off his CPAC appearance last month where he listed all the Republicans who voted for his impeachment by name, Trump sent an email to supporters Monday telling them not to donate to other Republicans.

“No more RINOs. They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and all our great voting base—they will never lead us to greatness," Trump said in the email, referring to what he calls “Republicans In Name Only.” "Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com.”

“We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!” Trump added.

Though the numbers for the first quarter of fundraising won’t be available until later this month, Trump’s PAC had more than $31 million in cash as of January 31, according to FEC filings. 

Trump’s email to supporters came just hours after the Republican National Committee rejected his cease-and-desist letter demanding that the party stop using Trump’s image and likeness in its fundraising appeals.

Trump’s lawyers sent the letter on Friday to the RNC, and the Republican House and Senate campaign committees, Politico reported. On Monday, RNC legal counsel Justin Riemer wrote to Trump’s lawyers that the organization “has every right to refer to public figures as it engages in core, First Amendment-protected political speech, and it will continue to do so in pursuit of these common goals.”

Riemer also reportedly wrote in his refusal to Trump’s lawyers that the former president told RNC chair Ronna McDaniel as recently as this past weekend that “he approves of the RNC’s current use of his name in fundraising and other materials.”

Trump’s appeal to siphon donors away from other Republicans, coupled with his cease and desist to the RNC, point to an ongoing GOP meltdown about the future of the party post-Trump. The bad blood is apparently mutual. Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump, reportedly said at a meeting last month that the party shouldn’t use Trump in its campaign to recapture the House in 2022. 

But Trump supporters in Congress seem to be already be backing a future in which the GOP’s campaign infrastructure is replaced by one run by the Trump organization. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a top Trump ally, said in a Fox Business interview Tuesday morning that Trump’s PAC is a better fit for conservative donors’ money.

"I think donors should give to the Save America PAC and should really question whether or not the Republican National Committee represents their values any more,” Gaetz said.