--- title: Donald Trump General Election Strategy Begins to Show description: Donald Trump is spending money on ads, staff, merchandising, and telemarketing, in an effort to make his campaign more professional. canonical: https://time.com/4303075/donald-trump-campaign-staff-professional/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-21T14:27:36.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T13:52:35.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump General Election Strategy Begins to Show og:description: Donald Trump is spending money on ads, staff, merchandising, and telemarketing, in an effort to make his campaign more professional. og:url: https://time.com/4303075/donald-trump-campaign-staff-professional/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Morning Must Reads og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump General Election Strategy Begins to Show twitter:description: Donald Trump is spending money on ads, staff, merchandising, and telemarketing, in an effort to make his campaign more professional. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Donald Trump's Campaign is Going Pro by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:52 PM UTCPublished: Apr 21, 2016 2:27 PM UTC  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Updated: Dec 13, 2023 1:52 PM UTCPublished: Apr 21, 2016 2:27 PM UTC This year’s TIME list of [the 100 most influential people in the world](http://time.com/time100) includes a host of political figures: Robert Reich writes on [**Bernie Sanders**](http://time.com/4301570/bernie-sanders-2016-time-100/)**,** Sen. **Lindsey Graham** writes on South Carolina Gov. [**Nikki Haley**](http://time.com/4302106/nikki-haley-2016-time-100/), Bono writes on Secretary of State [**John Kerry**](http://time.com/4301293/john-kerry-2016-time-100/)**,** Charleston shooting survivor Jennifer Pinckney writes on [**President Obama**](http://time.com/4302043/barack-obama-2016-time-100/)**,** Rep. Renee Ellmers writes on [**Donald Trump**](http://time.com/4302104/donald-trump-2016-time-100/)**, Mitt Romney** writes on Speaker of the House [**Paul Ryan**](http://time.com/4302027/paul-ryan-2016-time-100/)**,** Ryan writes on RNC Chairman [**Reince Priebus**](http://time.com/4301560/reince-priebus-2016-time-100/)**,** Sen. Amy Klobuchar writes on [**Hillary Clinton**](http://time.com/4302333/hillary-clinton-2016-time-100/)**, and** Wisconsin Gov. **Scott Walker** writes on Sen. [**Ted Cruz**](http://time.com/4302097/ted-cruz-2016-time-100/)**.** As GOP leaders gather in Florida this week, campaigns are turning up the charm offensive, hosting receptions and briefings for members of the Republican National Committee. Aides to Cruz and Gov. **John Kasich** spent Wednesday huddled with party officials, and Trump’s campaign is preparing a more formal briefing Thursday afternoon. It’s the latest indication of professionalization of the Trump campaign. Trump, who loaned another $13 million to his campaign in March, spending money on ads, staff, merchandising, and telemarketing, is preparing to deliver a foreign policy speech next week, complete with teleprompter. Facing the prospect of a contested convention, GOP leaders are exploring the use of electronic voting to speed the nominating process in Cleveland—just the latest logistical hurdle among many created by the likelihood the party won’t have a presumptive nominee by the convention. Sanders is back on the road after taking a day off the campaign trail following his defeat in New York, but the question no longer is how he’ll try to reboot his campaign, rather how he’ll seek to wind it down. Raising $46 million in March, Sanders faces no financial pressures to exit—the traditional way candidates are forced from the race—but lacking a clear path to victory Democrats are wondering what it will take to edge him off stage. It’s probably going to cost more than a convention speaking slot. Hillary Clinton opposes Stop-and-Frisk. Harriet Tubman will replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. And women will appear on Clinton’s VP short-list. Here are your must-reads: **Must Reads** [Hillary Clinton Says Evidence For Stop-and-Frisk ‘Doesn’t Hold Up’ ](http://time.com/4302806/hillary-clinton-philadelphia-stop-frisk/)But she would not outright reject the practice, TIME’s Sam Frizell reports [Ted Cruz Seeks to Mend Fences With Republican Elites ](http://time.com/4301451/ted-cruz-republican-national-committee/)He calls the 168-member governing body part of the GOP “grassroots” \[TIME\] [After New York Comes the Question: What Does Bernie Want? ](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/after-new-york-comes-the-question-what-does-bernie-want/2016/04/20/f50b161c-06a2-11e6-b283-e79d81c63c1b%5Fstory.html)The nomination moving further out of reach, Democrats wonder what it will take to get him out of the race \[Washington Post\] [Trump Terrifies World Leaders ](http://www.politico.com/story/2016/04/trump-terrifies-world-leaders-222233)And Obama’s reassurances aren’t calming them down \[Politico\] [Donald Trump Plans to Adopt More-Traditional Campaign Tactics ](http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-im-not-going-to-blow-it-1461200705)GOP front-runner says his campaign is evolving; coming soon are policy addresses, teleprompters and a speechwriter \[Wall Street Journal\] **Sound Off** “The people who are here are elected grassroots activists from the states.” — Ted Cruz on the 168-member Republican National Committee, saying they are not members of the Washington ‘cartel’ “I’m not going to blow it.” — Donald Trump to the Wall Street Journal on his campaign. **Bits and Bites** [Harriet Tubman Will Replace Andrew Jackson on $20 Bill](http://time.com/4301127/harriet-tubman-20-dollar-bill-alexander-hamilton-andrew-jackson/) \[TIME\] [Joe Klein: How The Clintons Think About Elections](http://time.com/4300644/how-the-clintons-think-about-elections/) \[TIME\] [Republicans Plan for Electronic Floor Voting at Contested Convention](http://time.com/4300582/republican-convention-electronic-voting-delegates/) \[TIME\] [Women Will Be on Hillary Clinton’s Vice President List](http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2016/04/20/women-will-clinton-list-what-about-elizabeth-warren/OkjhdprEAehh8y2wTW70tL/story.html) \[Boston Globe\] [Pennsylvania GOP Presidential Delegate Chase Adds to Mystery](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5cf7527f87cb414eb54073aad91a83fb/pennsylvania-gop-presidential-delegate-chase-adds-mystery) \[Associated Press\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4303075/donald-trump-campaign-staff-professional/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4303075/donald-trump-campaign-staff-professional/"},"headline":"How Donald Trump's Campaign is Going Pro","datePublished":"2016-04-21T14:27:36.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T13:52:35.000Z","description":"Morning Must Reads: April 21","url":"https://time.com/4303075/donald-trump-campaign-staff-professional/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","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":"https://time.com/4303075/donald-trump-campaign-staff-professional/","name":"How Donald Trump's Campaign is Going Pro"}}]}] ```