Donald Trump's 'self-funded' campaign receives $7.5million in contributions from individual donors - making up almost a THIRD of his funds 

  • Donald Trump has received approximately $7.5million from individual donors according to Federal Election Commission records
  • That accounts for almost a third of the $25.5million his campaign has, the rest of which he funded as a loan 
  • Trump often boasts that he's self-funding his campaign and brags about turning down multimillion-dollar contributions 

By Chris Spargo For Dailymail.com

Published: 22:58 EST, 4 March 2016 | Updated: 07:58 EST, 5 March 2016

Donald Trump may claim he is running a self-funded campaign, but recent Federal Election Commission filings paint a much different story. 

The most recent records show that through the end of January, Trump has received approximately $7.5million from individual donors.

His entire campaign has received $25.5million, mostly in loans he has made himself, meaning that just under a third of his money comes not from him but from donors.

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Bank: Donald Trump  (above on Friday) has received approximately $7.5million from individual donors according to Federal Election Commission records

Bank: Donald Trump  (above on Friday) has received approximately $7.5million from individual donors according to Federal Election Commission records

These numbers were first revealed by ABC News. 

Trump often boasts that he's self-funding his campaign and brags about turning down multimillion-dollar contributions. 

Despite his initial pledge to self-finance his campaign, he added a donation page to his website last the summer that seeks contributions up to the maximum $2,700 and encouraged people to purchase campaign merchandise online, most of which has the slogan 'Make America Great Again.' 

Trump has also frequently bragged about how cheap his campaign has been, saying last October; 'I thought I'd have spent about $20, $25 million up until this point. You know what I've spent? Like nothing.'

He later said that same month in a statement; 'While our original budget was substantially higher than the amount spent, good business practices and even better ideas and policy have made it unnecessary to have spent a larger sum.

'To be No. 1 in every poll, both state and national, and to have spent the least amount of dollars of any serious candidate is a testament to what I can do for America. This is what our country's leaders should do for the United States — spend money wisely and win!'

That is all about to change though with news that Trump has begun buying up commercial time in Florida as the race heats up between himself and the remaining three candidates - Senator Marco Rubio, Senator Ted Cruz and Governor John Kasich. 

The billionaire candidate to date has relied heavily on free air time thanks to press coverage and social media up until this point in the race.

He still however does not seem willing to acknowledge how much money he has received in contributions, saying about the issue this past October in Las Vegas; 'We had a woman [donate] $7.59, what do you do? How can you send the money back? First of all it’s too expensive to send it back. It costs you more money to send it back.

'You know, it’s cute, it’s beautiful. They feel invested in your campaign.' 

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