--- title: Donald Trump Says Campaign Efforts ‘Really Haven't Started’ description: Donald Trump said in a new interview that his campaign hasn’t “really” started yet and will begin after the Republican convention. canonical: https://time.com/4374195/donald-trump-campaign-hasnt-started/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-06-19T14:16:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:48:05.810Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Says His Campaign Hasn't Really Started Yet og:description: "We start pretty much after the convention" og:url: https://time.com/4374195/donald-trump-campaign-hasnt-started/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc6f13479f400cc6/6988987d196cf4ea7503c13f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign in Briarcliff Manor og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Says His Campaign Hasn't Really Started Yet twitter:description: "We start pretty much after the convention" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc6f13479f400cc6/6988987d196cf4ea7503c13f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Donald Trump Says His Campaign Hasn't Really Started Yet  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jun 19, 2016 2:16 PM CUT  Donald Trump pauses as he speaks at a campaign event at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., on June 7, 2016 Donald Trump pauses as he speaks at a campaign event at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., on June 7, 2016Carlo Allegri—Reuters  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jun 19, 2016 2:16 PM CUT [Donald Trump](http://time.com/4373819/gop-considers-conscientious-objector-rule-for-delegates-donald-trump/?xid=homepage "undefined") said in a new interview that his campaign [hasn’t “really” started yet](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EGQHYf-LFQ "undefined") and will begin after the Republican convention. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee discussed his efforts to secure the Oval Office in two interviews with NBC’s [_Meet the Press_ ](http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/video/trump-says-he-doesn-t-need-gop-establishment-we-can-win-either-way-708300867993 "undefined")that aired on Saturday and Sunday. “We really haven’t started. We start pretty much after the convention,” Trump said, adding that presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has had a “head start” in her campaign. Trump has come under fire from many in his own party for criticizing the Mexican ancestry of a federal judge and once again calling for a ban on Muslims from entering the country in the wake of the deadly Orlando shooting. He’s also been [lagging in recent polls against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton](http://time.com/4369220/hillary-clinton-lead-donald-trump-poll/ "undefined"). Some Republicans are pushing to c[hange convention rules](http://time.com/4373819/gop-considers-conscientious-objector-rule-for-delegates-donald-trump/?xid=homepage "undefined") in the hopes of possibly denying Trump the party’s nomination. The real estate mogul said he has recently “raised a lot of money” for the Republican Party and would donate his own cash to the cause should the campaign come short of funds. “We’re doing very well,” he said. “We’re going to raise a lot of money. I’m raising it for the Republican Party. I mean, I’m doing a good job. I think we’re going to go on to a great victory.” “I’d put up whatever I need to win,” he added. In the same interview, Trump said he could win the presidency with or without the Republican Party, but that “it would be nice if we stuck together.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4374195/donald-trump-campaign-hasnt-started/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4374195/donald-trump-campaign-hasnt-started/"},"headline":"Donald Trump Says His Campaign Hasn't Really Started Yet","datePublished":"2016-06-19T14:16:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:48:05.810Z","description":"\"We start pretty much after the convention\"","url":"https://time.com/4374195/donald-trump-campaign-hasnt-started/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc6f13479f400cc6/6988987d196cf4ea7503c13f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfc6f13479f400cc6/6988987d196cf4ea7503c13f/donald-trump16.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a campaign in Briarcliff Manor","caption":"Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump pasues as he speaks at a campaign event on the day several states held presidential primaries, including California, at the Trump National Golf Club Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, New York, U.S., June","creditText":"Carlo Allegri—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4374195/donald-trump-campaign-hasnt-started/","name":"Donald Trump Says His Campaign Hasn't Really Started Yet"}}]}] ```