Dems Prepare for Trump’s Attack on ActBlue: ‘We’re not going to allow it.’
The president intends to instruct Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into the significant online donation platform.
TroibNews 
On Thursday, Democrats prepared for a concerted assault on their fundraising efforts from Republicans, as President Donald Trump set his sights on ActBlue.
Trump intends to instruct Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the prominent online donation platform, alleging that it is involved in “unlawful ‘straw donor’ and foreign contributions to American elections,” as outlined in a presidential memorandum released on Thursday.
“President Trump is taking action to address malign actors and foreign nationals who seek to illegally influence American elections, undermining the integrity of our electoral process,” a fact sheet relating to the memo, obtained by PMG, declares. “ActBlue has become notorious for its lax standards that enable unverified and fraudulent donations.”
In recent days, Democrats had been bracing themselves for presidential measures aimed at the platform, concerned about the Republican Party's increasing focus on the service that handles nearly all of their fundraising activities.
“By targeting ActBlue, Trump is taking direct aim at the infrastructure of Democrats to run campaigns from school board to Congress,” remarked Kelly Dietrich, CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, an organization that helps prepare Democrats for electoral candidacy.
ActBlue reported raising $400 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone, marking the largest sum for that period in a non-presidential or midterm election year, according to the organization. As a platform that processes individual contributions and directs them to various campaigns, ActBlue is a dominant force in Democratic fundraising.
“There are alternatives, yes, but there’s no platform that has the integration and the reach of ActBlue that you could replace tomorrow,” noted Tim Lim, a Democratic digital consultant. “This isn’t a platform options problem, this is a penetration of market and depth-of-use problem... Democrats should protest, fight [Trump’s actions] in court, keep using ActBlue.”
This isn’t the first time the right has targeted ActBlue. Trump’s memorandum follows a letter sent to ActBlue in October by Rep. Bryan Steil, the chair of the House Committee on Administration, which requested documents and information regarding the platform's donor verification methods, implying inadequacies in its safeguards against foreign donations.
In December, Steil publicized documents provided by ActBlue, confirming that the company had instituted new policies to “automatically reject donations that use foreign prepaid/gift cards, domestic gift cards, are from high-risk/sanctioned countries, and have the highest level of risk as determined.” While he characterized this as a “positive step forward,” he maintained that “there is still more work to be done.”
Democrats perceive Trump’s latest memo as an extension of previous critiques, even if it does not directly impede ActBlue’s operations. Kenneth Pennington, a Democratic digital consultant, characterized the memo as a mere messaging tool that does not pose a direct threat to ActBlue's functionality.
“To me it looks like the continuance of peddling this lie that Democratic small-dollar fundraising is actually coming from foreign nationals, which it obviously is not,” he asserted.
Jack Yao, a Democratic strategist and fundraiser, shared with PMG that this initiative represents “the latest in a line of attacks from the far right that tries to basically use lies to affect people’s confidence in ActBlue.”
Despite this sentiment, there are persistent concerns within Democratic circles that Trump's memorandum could be the precursor to a more extensive onslaught against the platform. Some Democrats fear that the administration might consider freezing ActBlue accounts, even temporarily.
“Everything from payroll to health insurance could be affected by a bank freeze [of ActBlue accounts], which is certainly a looming concern — everyone will get the money out eventually, but if you lose a week or even three or four days to a freeze, that would really affect how campaigns function,” Dietrich explained.
While the White House fact sheet regarding Trump’s memo does not indicate that a bank freeze is imminent, it does accuse ActBlue of involvement in fraud, stating, “Specifically, the Memorandum notes that a congressional investigation revealed significant fraud schemes using ActBlue and, over a 30-day period during the 2024 election cycle, hundreds of ActBlue donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards, despite it being illegal for foreign nationals to contribute to U.S. elections.”
In response, ActBlue condemned what it termed a "brazen attack on democracy in America" and affirmed that it "will immediately pursue all legal avenues to protect and defend itself."
Though the Trump administration claims their investigation targets election integrity, Mike Nellis, a Democratic digital consultant, countered that Trump’s actions regarding ActBlue are antithetical to that goal.
“We’re not going to let Donald Trump attack our core infrastructure — the tools that make it easier for everyday Americans to have a say in our democracy,” he stated. “That’s not how this works. Trump is not going to be able to rig the midterm elections in his favor. We’re not going to allow it.”
Jessica Kline for TROIB News
Trump intends to instruct Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the prominent online donation platform, alleging that it is involved in “unlawful ‘straw donor’ and foreign contributions to American elections,” as outlined in a presidential memorandum released on Thursday.
“President Trump is taking action to address malign actors and foreign nationals who seek to illegally influence American elections, undermining the integrity of our electoral process,” a fact sheet relating to the memo, obtained by PMG, declares. “ActBlue has become notorious for its lax standards that enable unverified and fraudulent donations.”
In recent days, Democrats had been bracing themselves for presidential measures aimed at the platform, concerned about the Republican Party's increasing focus on the service that handles nearly all of their fundraising activities.
“By targeting ActBlue, Trump is taking direct aim at the infrastructure of Democrats to run campaigns from school board to Congress,” remarked Kelly Dietrich, CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee, an organization that helps prepare Democrats for electoral candidacy.
ActBlue reported raising $400 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone, marking the largest sum for that period in a non-presidential or midterm election year, according to the organization. As a platform that processes individual contributions and directs them to various campaigns, ActBlue is a dominant force in Democratic fundraising.
“There are alternatives, yes, but there’s no platform that has the integration and the reach of ActBlue that you could replace tomorrow,” noted Tim Lim, a Democratic digital consultant. “This isn’t a platform options problem, this is a penetration of market and depth-of-use problem... Democrats should protest, fight [Trump’s actions] in court, keep using ActBlue.”
This isn’t the first time the right has targeted ActBlue. Trump’s memorandum follows a letter sent to ActBlue in October by Rep. Bryan Steil, the chair of the House Committee on Administration, which requested documents and information regarding the platform's donor verification methods, implying inadequacies in its safeguards against foreign donations.
In December, Steil publicized documents provided by ActBlue, confirming that the company had instituted new policies to “automatically reject donations that use foreign prepaid/gift cards, domestic gift cards, are from high-risk/sanctioned countries, and have the highest level of risk as determined.” While he characterized this as a “positive step forward,” he maintained that “there is still more work to be done.”
Democrats perceive Trump’s latest memo as an extension of previous critiques, even if it does not directly impede ActBlue’s operations. Kenneth Pennington, a Democratic digital consultant, characterized the memo as a mere messaging tool that does not pose a direct threat to ActBlue's functionality.
“To me it looks like the continuance of peddling this lie that Democratic small-dollar fundraising is actually coming from foreign nationals, which it obviously is not,” he asserted.
Jack Yao, a Democratic strategist and fundraiser, shared with PMG that this initiative represents “the latest in a line of attacks from the far right that tries to basically use lies to affect people’s confidence in ActBlue.”
Despite this sentiment, there are persistent concerns within Democratic circles that Trump's memorandum could be the precursor to a more extensive onslaught against the platform. Some Democrats fear that the administration might consider freezing ActBlue accounts, even temporarily.
“Everything from payroll to health insurance could be affected by a bank freeze [of ActBlue accounts], which is certainly a looming concern — everyone will get the money out eventually, but if you lose a week or even three or four days to a freeze, that would really affect how campaigns function,” Dietrich explained.
While the White House fact sheet regarding Trump’s memo does not indicate that a bank freeze is imminent, it does accuse ActBlue of involvement in fraud, stating, “Specifically, the Memorandum notes that a congressional investigation revealed significant fraud schemes using ActBlue and, over a 30-day period during the 2024 election cycle, hundreds of ActBlue donations from foreign IP addresses using prepaid cards, despite it being illegal for foreign nationals to contribute to U.S. elections.”
In response, ActBlue condemned what it termed a "brazen attack on democracy in America" and affirmed that it "will immediately pursue all legal avenues to protect and defend itself."
Though the Trump administration claims their investigation targets election integrity, Mike Nellis, a Democratic digital consultant, countered that Trump’s actions regarding ActBlue are antithetical to that goal.
“We’re not going to let Donald Trump attack our core infrastructure — the tools that make it easier for everyday Americans to have a say in our democracy,” he stated. “That’s not how this works. Trump is not going to be able to rig the midterm elections in his favor. We’re not going to allow it.”
Jessica Kline for TROIB News
