Donald Trump fueled speculation that he isn't really running a campaign for president by saying he does not need to hire a significant number of staffers, leaving some to estimate that he may have fewer than 100 staff members.
The truth is that Trump has only 30 staffers(!) for the entire country according to a report from the Associated Press.
The New York billionaire has slowly begun to add paid staff in a handful of swing states — Wisconsin and Iowa, among them — even as campaign officials concede the presumptive presidential nominee has little desire or capacity to construct the kind of massive national operation that has come to define modern-day White House campaigns. Trump plans instead to depend upon the national Republican Party to lead state-based efforts on his behalf, while Democrat Hillary Clinton has had an army of staff dedicated specifically to her campaign in general election battlegrounds for months. [...]
Trump is largely outsourcing what's typically called a campaign's ground game, which includes the labor-intensive jobs of identifying and contacting potential supporters. Ed Brookover, recently tapped to serve as the Trump's liaison to the RNC, says the campaign is making progress on adding its own staff in key states.
The campaign estimates it currently has about 30 paid staff on the ground across the country.
In comparison, the Clinton campaign has hundreds of staff members with far more than 30 in Ohio alone. Moreover, Trump's limited number of staff members means he has no staff at all in some states and just one or two in others. Trump currently only has 1 single staffer in Wisconsin according to this report, which might be considered insane if you believe he actually wants to win.
Something else about this report that strikes me is that Trump has run a campaign against the Republican establishment, but he's relying on the establishment to run a campaign for him. I expect he'll also blame them when he loses. Or maybe I should say 'when they lose for him.'
Trump's cable network will probably have more than 30 staffers.