Trump's 2015-16 hostile takeover of the old GOP has been finalized.
Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee have finalized an agreement that will allow individual donors to contribute nearly half a million dollars each toward electing the presumptive nominee and other down-ballot Republicans this fall.
The agreement cements a shift in campaign strategy that’s been in the works for weeks, as Trump adopts more traditional campaign tactics with an eye towards the general election. Though he largely self-funded his primary campaign — often touting the fact as evidence he can’t be "bought" like typical politicians — he has recently acknowledged the need to tap donor money for the general election, where he’s expected to face an onslaught of hundreds of millions of dollars in Democratic attack ads.
The agreement, announced late Tuesday night by both the Trump campaign and the RNC, sets up two joint fundraising committees — the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, an alliance between the Trump campaign and the RNC; and the Trump Victory Fund, a joint committee that includes the Trump campaign, the RNC and 11 state parties — Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.