“When you mislead the president’s donors and usurp his brand for your own gain, you take away the financial resources his campaign needs to defeat Joe Biden and make America great again,” Wiles and LaCivita write in the letter.
The Trump campaign sent the letter to Tag Strategies, Red Spark Strategy, Prosper Group, IMGE, Go Big Media, Push Digital, Convergence Media, Coldspark, Axiom Strategies, and Targeted Victory.
Several of the firms are working for potential Republican rivals to Trump. Coldspark, for example, is helping former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, who has announced her candidacy. Axiom is working with a super PAC aligned with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and Targeted Victory is a vendor for South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Both DeSantis and Scott are seen as potential contenders. The signatures also represent a host of other negative ballot candidates within the Republican Party who would benefit from gaining Trump’s endorsement.
None of the firms that received Trump’s campaign letter commented for this story.
Trump has made similar moves before. In March 2021, his lawyers sent cease and desist letters to the Republican National Committee, the NRCC, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee, demanding that they stop using his name and likeness in emails and fundraising merchandise. . The RNC denied the cease and desist request.
Thursday’s letter is not so much a legal threat as a political one, forcing the party’s top digital consultants to weigh the value of endorsing Trump against using his name to raise funds for their clients.
«Going forward, to determine which candidates to endorse, the president and his team will consider whether the candidate is paying a digital fundraising provider that routinely raises funds based on his name, image and likeness without his authorization.» write Wiles and LaCivita. “President Trump is highly unlikely to endorse, sign letters, appear at events, or post on social media about candidates using such providers, or invite customers of such providers to join him onstage or otherwise acknowledge them. manner at their rallies and other events.»