RNC confirms it cannot pay Trump’s legal bills anymore if he announces 2024 run

The Republican National Convention confirmed this weekend that the organization cannot continue to fund former president Donald Trump’s legal fees related to several lawsuits in which he is currently involved, if he formally announces his candidacy for president in the 2024 race.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel appeared on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash on Sunday to discuss this week’s midterm election and the future of the GOP.

Among other things, McDaniel was asked about Trump’s rumored potential “November surprise” announcement in the coming weeks. McDaniel offered that if Trump were to announce his candidacy, the Republican National Committee would be obligated to cease footing his various legal bills.

To date, the RNC has funded legal battles “that relate to politically motivated legal proceedings waged against President Trump,” confirmed last year when it was found the RNC had made a total of $121,670 in payments to a Trump attorney for fees related to the probes into Trump in New York’s Southern District.

McDaniel says the RNC is unable to foot the bills for any active candidates at this time. 

“We cannot do in-kind contributions to any candidate right now. He’s the former president being attacked from every which way with lawsuits, and he’s certainly raised more under the RNC than we’ve spent on these bills,” she said.

She clarified, “We cannot pay legal bills for any candidate that’s announced.”

“So these are bills that came from the Letitia James lawsuit that started while he was president. It was voted on by our executive committee for our former president that this was a politically motivated investigation, and that’s what it’s been for.”

Some top Trump associates have hinted that the former POTUS will be making an announcement about 2024 before the end of the month.