President Donald Trump and Republicans are sitting on a king’s ransom in terms of funds going into what is expected to be competitive midterm elections as they try to keep control of Congress.
The president’s Super PACs are particularly flush with cash, even as the Democratic National Committee has had to use their headquarters as collateral just to raise $15 million for races.
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On Friday, Trump said he was planning to use his and Republicans’ huge cash advantage to get their candidates over the hump in tight races.
“Well, I’ve raised a lot, and nobody knows what it is, but I will tell you it’s about $850 million,” Trump said before boarding Air Force One to fly to South Carolina.
“I’ll be spending a lot of that money for — and my own money — but I’ll be spending a lot of that money for candidates that I think are good, Republican candidates,” Trump assured reporters.
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“We’re in very good shape,” he added, per The Hill.
Election forecasters currently favor Democrats to win control of the House, while Republicans maintain a slight advantage in the battle for the Senate.
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The political environment, however, has become increasingly challenging for the GOP, with recent momentum shifting toward Democrats as Trump’s approval ratings have declined and the war with Iran weighs on Republicans heading into November.
But that said, polling this cycle and in the previous two election cycles has been generally abysmal, with firms oversampling Democrats and putting their candidates up by double digits who ultimately go on to lose their races.
MAGA Inc., meanwhile, is a pro-Trump super PAC that played a major role in supporting Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign and remains an influential force in Republican politics.
Trump said earlier this month in an interview with Punchbowl News that he could “spend it on pretty much anything” he wants.
“I’m going to help Republicans,” he said.
Thus far, however, the PAC has not spent any money in June or July.
Some Republicans have privately expressed frustration that more of Trump’s political war chest has not yet been deployed to support GOP candidates in competitive races ahead of the midterm elections.
Those concerns have increased as Republicans prepare for an increasingly expensive battle to maintain control of Congress in November.
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James Blair, a senior Trump political adviser who oversees MAGA Inc., has indicated that significant financial support is coming, saying the president “is going to expend substantial resources to win the midterms.”
“He cares deeply about the party winning and anything he can do to support that he is going to do and is already doing,” Blair said on “The Sean Spicer Show” in June.
Blair didn’t say when checks would start rolling out of the PAC, but noted it would be “very soon.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson is spending the August recess traveling across the country as Republicans confront a fight to protect their House majority in November.
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The Louisiana Republican campaigned with vulnerable GOP incumbents and candidates as economic concerns, high prices, and the continuing conflict with Iran threaten to complicate the party’s midterm message.
Over the past three weeks, Johnson has appeared alongside more than a dozen candidates, according to the Washington Examiner.
His travels have taken him into competitive contests in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Virginia, and Colorado, where Republicans are working to prevent Democrats from flipping crucial seats.
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Johnson has also traveled into Democratic-held districts where Republicans believe new congressional maps or competitive recruits could create opportunities for GOP gains.
The aggressive campaign schedule reflects the narrow margin separating the parties.
Republicans have little room for setbacks, and losing the chamber could dramatically reshape the final two years of Trump’s final term, including opening the door to Democratic impeachment efforts.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
