“So many Americans were pressured to donate to President Trump’s campaign that the WinRed pages were shut down,” the message read. “We are working to get the site back online as quickly as possible. Stay strong.”
About 30 minutes later, the account posted an update saying the website was back online.
The New York Times and CNBC also reported on the outage.
Preliminary trend data from Google shows that searches for “Donald Trump donation” reached their highest level in four years this week.
Trump, who criticized the jury’s decision, sent his supporters several messages linking to his donation pages in the hours following the verdict.
His main fundraising page features his photo from August when he turned himself in to Georgia authorities at the Fulton County Jail. A caption under the photo reads: “Never surrender.”
Donors can contribute $100 to his campaign under the option: “DONATE THIS AMOUNT IF YOU THINK PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS DONE NOTHING WRONG!”
He also began selling a “Dark MAGA hat,” writing in a caption that he was “JUST CONVICTED IN A WITCH HUNT TRIAL.”
The black baseball cap features the slogans “Never Surrender” and “Make America Great Again.” On its page, options to qualify for the hat start at $47.
A counter indicates that more than 82,000 people have made donations.
CNBC reported that Trump attended a fundraiser in New York after his verdict, then returned to Trump Tower around 9:25 p.m.
The former president typically campaigns for funds from small donors by drawing on notable moments from his legal troubles. After he was indicted in Manhattan in April 2023, the Trump campaign said he made about $5 million in donations in 48 hours.
A Trump campaign spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent after hours by Business Insider.
He is not the only one to capitalize on his conviction. Thursday evening, Democratic PAC MoveOn said it received 10,000 orders in 10 minutes for stickers depicting Trump with the word “FELON” plastered over his eyes.
The stickers are given as rewards to supporters who fill out a contact form on the PAC website.
Trump faces three other criminal cases, but none are expected to go to trial before the 2024 election.
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