Donald Trump looking to raise $1.5B for race against Hillary Clinton

NEW YORK, May 10 (UPI) -- Donald Trump, who prided himself on self-funding his run for the Republican presidential nomination, is now seeking fundraising help in his general election bid.

Trump spent around $40 million of his own money in the primaries, and is now seeking donors for his general election campaign against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton. He said he may need as much as $1.5 billion.

"No one should underestimate how hard it would be for any nominee to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in a very short period of time," Mike DuHaime, who was the top strategist for the presidential campaign of Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, told The New York Times.

Trump will need to rely heavily on the party's existing infrastructure, even though he has angered the establishment. Several who donated heavily in the 2012 election, including the Koch brothers, are staying on the sidelines this year.

Republican Party officials want Trump to sign a joint fundraising agreement to raise money for the national committee and for his campaign.

Paul Singer, the billionaire financier who had backed Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, said Monday he could not support Trump.

But Trump hired his first professional fundraiser on Monday.

Anthony Scaramucci, a high-profile New York investor who was a fundraiser in past Republican presidential campaigns, has joined Trump's national finance committee.

Scaramucci met with Trump last week at Trump's New York office. "I am on board and will support and raise money for him," he said. "I will do whatever I can to support our Republican nominee."

Scaramucci was national finance co-chairman for Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign and for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's 2016 bid. After Walker dropped out, he joined Jeb Bush's campaign.

Hedge fund veteran Steven Mnuchin was named Trump's finance chairman last week.

Mnuchin, a former chairman of OneWest Bank Group and partner at Goldman Sachs, said he wants to help Trump "create a world-class finance organization" for his campaign.