Trump’s Faltering Cash Machine Can’t Rely on Facebook for a Fix

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Donald Trump's back on Facebook, but the technology giant's data changes are hobbling his ability to wring cash from its users as effectively as he did during his astonishing rise to the White House.

Trump, who has raised more money online than any other politician, no longer can directly target his tens of millions of Facebook followers with fundraising appeals, nor can he find users who have similar political views, making it harder and more expensive to prospect for contributors. While these changes affect every grassroots campaign that relies on Facebook to raise money — including progressives like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who in 2018 upset a veteran New York congressman — the former president needs to grow his army of small-dollar donors more than ever.

On Friday, Trump's “I'M BACK” post on the platform was his first since 2021 and followed the lifting of his suspension in January. Facebook's parent, Meta Platforms Inc., had barred him from his accounts for two years for encouraging his supporters to march on the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It's a sign that he's reaching for a familiar and once-potent tool as he plans his 2024 comeback.

But the terrain has changed, and the 2024 race will be the first time presidential campaigns will grapple with the loss of Facebook's political data. Trump, who's also facing a possible indictment by New York prosecutors over hush payments to actress Stormy Daniels, spent 91 cents to raise each dollar in the roughly six weeks after he declared his third presidential run, an unsustainable return on investment. And he needs to find millions more contributors who give $10 or $20 at a time, since many deep-pocketed GOP donors, including Interactive Brokers Group Inc. founder Thomas