Trump campaign spending still lags far behind Clinton

Donald Trump's election campaign doubled its spending last month but still lagged far behind US presidential rival Hillary Clinton, figures show. The Trump campaign spent $18.5m (£14.1m) in July, compared to his Democratic rival's $38m. Mr Trump spent more than $420,000 on hats, but only started major TV adverts this month. Separately, the New York Times said an investigation had revealed Mr Trump's firms were at least $650m in debt. Mr Trump's campaign spending remains remarkably low at this point compared to previous campaigns, including those of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in 2012. The Trump campaign's $18.5m in July was up from $7.8m in June, according to a Federal Election Commission report released on Saturday. In terms of fundraising, the Trump campaign brought in $37m for the month, compared to the $52m raised by Mrs Clinton. August will see a spike in Trump spending, however, as last week $5m was spent on the first TV adverts. The Clinton campaign began TV advertising two months ago and has spent more than $60m so far. Her campaign staff is around 700, about 10 times more than those on Mr Trump's payroll. The latest figures show a large sum of the Trump July spending, about 45% of the total, went to the web design and digital marketing firm Giles-Parscale, while millions also went on air travel.

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