Trump Uses Network Wall Speech to Raise Re-election Bucks

President Donald Trump is using his primetime speech Tuesday night to try to raise money for his re-election.

In the latest e-mail from the Trump Make America Great Again Committee, "a joint fundraising committee authorized by and composed of Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and the Republican National Committee," the President said he had "asked my team to send me a list of EVERY AMERICAN PATRIOT [emphasis his] who donates to the Official Secure the Border Fund."

Related: Trump Gets Network Time for Trump Speech

"I will be addressing the nation tonight at 9 PM EST on the Humanitarian and National Security crisis on our Southern Border," the e-mail said, citing as "facts" that "Drugs are poisoning our loved ones; MS-13 gang members are threatening our safety; Illegal criminals are flooding our nation."The e-mail asked for a $5 contribution by 9 p.m. EST (the scheduled time of his speech) "to have your name sent to me after my speech."

The President wants to raise $500,000 in one day, which the President in the e-mail called "something so HUGE [again, emphasis his], even Democrats and the Fake News won’t be able to ignore."

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.