Trump vows to ‘spend big’

Billionaire Donald Trump is promising that he will finally “spend big” in January on his presidential campaign after months of joyriding on the 24-hour news cycle.

“My campaign for president is $35,000,000 under budget, I have spent very little (and am in 1st place),” the GOP front-runner tweeted on Tuesday. “Now I will spend big in Iowa/N.H./S.C.”

{mosads}“I have spent almost nothing on my run for president and am in 1st place,” Trump added, denigrating the big spending of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is languishing in single digits in polls.

Trump’s promises of large spending in early states come a day after unnamed sources linked to his campaign briefed Fox News on an early state advertising blitz worth at least $2 million a week. 

The first round of ads will reportedly be positive, communicating Trump’s policy positions and overall vision, but the source said that the ads could quickly shift to attack spots if the billionaire feels he is being unfairly targeted by his opponents. 

Trump, who is leading by some 20 percentage points in national polls and is ahead in all states except Iowa — where Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has drawn ahead — has made a selling point out of the fact that his campaign is self-funded.

Beside Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Trump is the only candidate who has renounced super-PACs, allowing him to say that he is beholden to no lobbyist or special interest donors.

Yet despite his self-funding claims, Trump’s financial reports with the Federal Election Commission reveal that he has spent very little of his own money so far. 

The real estate tycoon, whose wealth is independently estimated to be $3 billion, has written personal checks for just $1.9 million so far. He has spent an additional $3.6 million on his campaign, but that money came from Trump’s supporters — many of them small-dollar donors — around the country.