The spending includes major transfers to two affiliated groups that have been placing millions of dollars in advertising: $200 million to No Going Back PAC Inc. and $25 million to Safety & Affordability PAC Inc. Trump-affiliated groups have so far spent more than $256 million on advertising, according to AdImpact, which tracks media spending and reservations.
“It’s more than any president has ever spent, by far, on the midterms,” said Corry Bliss, a GOP Senate and House campaign strategist who was the executive director of the Congressional Leadership Fund, House Republicans’ super PAC in the 2018 campaign.
Trump had been under intense pressure to help Republican candidates as his party struggles to hold onto its slim majorities in the House and Senate. While the party in power almost always loses seats in midterm elections, Republicans face an especially challenging climb after Trump helped defeat several of the party’s longtime incumbents and as he has been mired in low approval ratings amid deep voter frustration over persistently high costs and the unpopular war with Iran.
One bright spot for Republicans has been their huge financial advantage over Democrats this election cycle, aided by billionaires such as Elon Musk. Musk has invested heavily in Texas, leading Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico to accuse him of trying to buy the seat in his race against incumbent Ken Paxton.
MAGA Inc. had more than $164 million cash left in the bank as of Oct. 14, meaning it still has plenty left to spend. But the Trump team’s decision to wait until late in the cycle to begin advertising has diluted their spending power. The groups are paying far higher ad rates because of the shrinking availability of air time, sometimes more than five times what they would have spent if they had acted sooner.
In a post on his social media site Tuesday, Trump said that he planned to spend “over 400 Million Dollars by Election Day,” including $300 million he said had already been spent on advertising, voter contact, rallies, tele-rallies, get-out-the-vote programs and efforts to prevent voters from cheating.
MAGA Inc. began September with nearly $416 million in the bank. It has continued to raise huge sums of cash from billionaire backers including businessperson Diane Hendricks, Blackstone Group CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman and casino magnate Steve Wynn.