United States President Donald Trump has said he plans to spend more than $400m to help Republican candidates win the 3 November midterm elections, in a push to keep his party in control of both chambers of Congress. The Trump midterm spending commitment was announced in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday. Trump said much of the total had already been spent on campaign outreach.
Trump put the amount already spent at more than $300m. He listed advertising, direct and indirect voter contact, rallies, rally arenas, telerallies, get out the vote programmes and election integrity work among the uses. He called it a great honour to spend the money on behalf of the Republican Party, and he described the November vote as the most important midterm election in the country’s history.
The Trump midterm spending announcement offered no detailed breakdown of the spending, including how much would reach individual races. That gap leaves open how the money will be divided between Senate contests, House contests and national party activity in the final days.
Trump midterm spending: where the money is going
The Trump midterm spending figure arrives as Republicans face headwinds before the election, including pushback over the economy and the protracted US-Israeli war against Iran. In the lead-up to the vote, Trump’s approval ratings have fallen to record lows. A poll this week from Reuters and Ipsos found that only 31 percent of Americans approved of Trump’s job performance so far.
Some Republicans have sought to distance themselves from the president as a result. Others have asked for more Trump midterm spending in close races with Democrats. The tension between those two responses has shaped much of the party’s closing campaign.
Trump midterm spending and the MAGA Inc question
Questions have swirled over whether Trump and his allies would tap into the war chest amassed by MAGA Inc, the super PAC named for his Make America Great Again movement. As a super PAC, MAGA Inc can raise unlimited sums from donors to support or oppose federal candidates, but its spending is legally required to remain independent of their campaigns.
Last month, the Campaign Legal Center, a campaign finance watchdog, accused Trump of violating those rules by claiming control over MAGA Inc’s expenditures. The group cited his public statements, including an exchange with reporters in the Oval Office on 4 September, when Trump was asked when the money would start flowing to Republican candidates. He replied that he would spend whatever amount of money necessary to help his party, and added that the money from MAGA Inc was money he controlled. The complaint centres on Trump midterm spending claims made in public.
According to its latest federal filing, MAGA Inc entered September with $415.8m in cash reserves, making it one of the most consequential financial resources in the Republican campaign arsenal. Trump has questioned why the super PAC’s heavy outlay has not improved Republican polling in some races, including in Ohio, according to Reuters.
Trump midterm spending enters the final stretch
Other Trump-aligned groups have also increased their political advertising, including two newly formed organisations linked to MAGA Inc, the No Going Back PAC and the Safety and Affordability PAC. The advertisement tracker AdImpact found that the No Going Back PAC contributed $68.7m in political ads last month alone.
Another Trump ally, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, has reportedly spent $366m since last year on Republican campaigns through his group, America PAC, and other Republican and conservative groups. The Trump midterm spending push sits alongside that allied spending, rather than replacing it.
In the final weeks, Trump himself has hit the campaign trail, with a 32-day campaign blitz, and the Trump midterm spending effort runs alongside that travel. Upcoming stops include South Carolina and Iowa. Republicans currently hold slim majorities in both legislative chambers, and Democrats are seeking to use Trump’s declining popularity to flip the Senate and the House of Representatives. If they succeed, they could block much of Trump’s legislative agenda for the final two years of his presidency.