But during the lead-up to this year’s New Hampshire primary, Mr. Trump repeatedly pointed to Mr. Johnson as an example of the type of donor whose special interest money he was not interested in.
“First of all, I actually feel that I could run the same kind of campaign that I ran before,” Mr. Trump said, when asked about the old remarks. He spent comparatively little money in the primaries, which he lent his campaign or raised in smaller contributions, as people like Mr. Bush burned through tens of millions of dollars. “But we’re raising money for the Republicans, for the R.N.C., for Congress and the Senate.”