LAS VEGAS -- Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee who has prided himself on his self-funded campaign and criticized other candidates for relying on political donors, now wants their money.

The New York businessman recently hired a national finance chairman, scheduled his first fundraiser and is on the cusp of signing a deal with the Republican Party that would enable him to solicit donations of more than $300,000 apiece from supporters.

His money-raising begins right away.

The fundraising push comes after Trump attended meetings in Washington with Republican leaders, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus. Trump and Ryan left their one-on-one meeting pledging to unify the party, but acknowledge the work ahead to bridge their substantial gaps on issues like immigration and free trade.

But Trump's nascent finance team is planning a dialing-for-dollars event on the fifth floor of Trump Tower in New York, and the campaign is at work on a fundraising website focused on small donations. In addition to a May 25 fundraiser at the Los Angeles home of real estate developer Tom Barrack, Trump will hold another soon after in New York.

The businessman faces a gargantuan task: A general-election campaign easily can run up a $1 billion tab. For the primary race, Trump spent a tiny fraction of that amount -- he's estimated that he used $50 million of his own money, plus about $12 million from donors who sought his campaign out on their own.

Trump said in an interview this week that he will spend minimally on a data operation that can help identify and turn out voters. And he's betting that the media's coverage of his rallies will reduce his need for television advertising.

Yet he acknowledged that the general-election campaign may cost "a lot." To help raise the money, he tapped Steven Mnuchin, a New York investor with ties in Hollywood and Las Vegas but no political fundraising experience.

"To me this is no different than building a business, and this is a business with a fabulous product: Donald Trump," Mnuchin said in an interview at a financial industry conference in Las Vegas. Trump's new national finance chairman said prospective donors are "coming out of the woodwork" and he's been fielding emails and phone calls from people he hasn't heard from in 20 years.

More experienced fundraisers are coming aboard, too, such as Eli Miller of Washington, Anthony Scaramucci of New York and Ray Washburn of Dallas. All three helped raise money for candidates Trump defeated in the primary.

Scaramucci, part of 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney's finance team, recently shared Romney's old fundraising calendar with Trump. He said Trump was receptive to a schedule that has at most 100 fundraisers over the summer.

Scaramucci said he didn't expect Trump to grovel for donors. "But is he going to say thank you and be appreciative? Of course. He's very good one on one. He's a hard guy not to like."

billionaires line up

Wealthy Trump supporters have several options -- and megadonors are beginning to line up.

Sheldon Adelson, a billionaire Las Vegas casino owner who was the largest donor of the 2012 presidential race, wrote in a Washington Post editorial this week that he endorses Trump and is urging "those who provide important financial backing" to do the same.

Billionaire oil investor T. Boone Pickens said this week that he intends to help finance Trump's effort. He's invited officials from one of the pro-Trump super political action committees to his Texas ranch next month.

That entity, Great America PAC, has struggled to get off the ground but hopes to raise $15 million to $20 million in the next few months, said its chief fundraiser, Eric Beach. The group recently brought on Ronald Reagan's campaign manager, Ed Rollins, whom Trump has praised.

On Thursday, another pro-Trump super PAC emerged. Doug Watts, former communications director for retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson's White House bid, started a group called the Committee for American Sovereignty with an advisory board that includes former Trump resorts executive Nicholas Ribis Sr. and longtime GOP donor Kenneth Abramowitz. The group aims to raise $20 million before the GOP convention in July.

One Trump emissary to the world of major donors is billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who made calls to Pickens and others to gauge their interest in Trump.

Some are biting, either because of support for Trump or a desire to keep a Democrat out of office. Among the latter group is Stanley Hubbard, a Minnesota broadcast billionaire who spent money trying to "stop Trump."

Having failed in that quest, he said he's prepared to write a check to stop Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Stephan Thompson, a senior aide to Wisconsin's Republican Gov. Scott Walker, had similar sentiments: "Nobody unifies Republicans more than Hillary Clinton."

Clinton already has set up a victory committee with her party in September, and it had collected $61 million by the end of March.

She also counts on several super PACs. They've landed million-dollar checks from her friends and supporters and already scheduled $130 million in TV, radio and internet ads leading up to Election Day.

Super PACS can raise and spend unlimited funds on behalf of a candidate as long as these super PACs don't coordinate directly with the candidate's campaign. Donations are unlimited; donors' names must be reported to the Federal Election Commission.

clinton's battlegrounds

Clinton's campaign has turned its sights on general-election strategy, increasingly looking past the Democratic primary challenge from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

Clinton's plans include an early, aggressive attempt to defend Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan -- in economically struggling states that have been hit hard by global free-trade agreements.

Joel Benenson, Clinton's chief pollster and senior strategist, acknowledged that Trump's popularity, particularly among white, working-class voters, could make states in the country's industrial midsection more competitive than they have been in recent elections.

"There is no state where they can put us on defense that we don't already treat as a battleground," Benenson said. He added: "The key here is to really protect the territory we have to protect, then play offense."

Clinton performed poorly against Sanders in Democratic primaries in such parts of the country -- partly because of her past support for free-trade agreements and partly because Sanders' promises to focus on economic issues and income inequality resonated with voters.

Those factors could work against her with Trump, who has criticized her positions on trade and also has found deep appeal among the working class.

Clinton's team expects the fiercest battlegrounds of the past several elections -- including Virginia, Florida and Ohio -- to play an outsize role in 2016. But her campaign is preparing to invest heavily in states that President Barack Obama won in 2012, if not always by large margins.

In Michigan, a state that Obama won twice despite investing little in 2008 and 2012, Democrats say that Trump poses some "challenges and opportunities" that make this year different.

"We're looking at it as kind of unique," said Brandon Dillon, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. "He's unconventional and will say anything to any audience to get the support he's looking for.

"We believe Michigan could be a battleground state given what Trump has said and this kind of appeal that he's trying to make to white, working-class voters about the economy," Dillon added.

Clinton's campaign is hiring staff and opening field offices in Michigan, although Dillon said that, until recently, the protracted Democratic primary has delayed any serious organizing efforts by national Democrats.

'everything is a suggestion'

There has been confusion this week over just how committed Trump is to implementing his policy proposals if he becomes president, especially when it comes to calling for tax cuts for the wealthy and a temporary ban on allowing most foreign Muslims into the country.

During an interview Friday morning on Fox and Friends, Trump clarified: "Look, anything I say right now -- I'm not the president. Everything is a suggestion. No matter what you say, it is a suggestion."

It was a sentiment that Trump reiterated during an interview with the Today show, also on Friday, adding that as president he would be "totally flexible on very, very many issues."

When it comes to the proposed ban on Muslims, Trump said on Fox News that he feels "very strongly that we have to find out what the problem is" and has put former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in charge of a small committee of "really stellar people" to study immigration issues and the proposed ban.

"No, I am not softening my stance at all, but I am always flexible on issues," Trump said in the interview with Today. "I am totally flexible on very, very many issues, and I think you have to be that way. But I'm not softening my stance."

Earlier this month, Trump said that he was not willing to change his positions to win over Republican lawmakers who are concerned by his rhetoric. But during an interview Friday with Good Morning America, Trump seemed to soften on his hard-line my-way-or-the-highway approach.

"I think there are certain things that we could talk about," Trump said. "I'm not totally inflexible on anything, but I feel when it comes to the borders, we have to have strong borders."

Trump also told Good Morning America that he doesn't believe that voters have a right to see his tax returns and insisted it's "none of your business" when pressed on what tax rate he himself pays.

When the interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, asked Trump directly if he thought voters had a right to see his returns, something that presidential nominees have provided for roughly 40 years, the candidate replied, "I don't think they do."

Trump added: "But I do say this, I will really gladly give them -- not going to learn anything, but it's under routine audit. When the audit ends I'll present them. That should be before the election. I hope it's before the election."

When asked what effective tax rate he pays, Trump said: "It's none of your business. You'll see it when I release, but I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible."

Information for this article was contributed by Julie Bykowicz, Jill Colvin of The Associated Press; by Jenna Johnson, Abby Phillip of The Washington Post; and by Maggie Haberman of The New York Times.

A Section on 05/14/2016