President Trump said Friday he plans to spend “probably” $400 million to $500 million on midterm election races, but added that he also intends hold back resources as Republicans openly beg him to stop sitting on his money and give them financial support.
“This is my money that I control,” Mr. Trump told reporters at the White House. At the same time, he said he believes Republicans can do well in November and he will help.
“I’m going to spend whatever amount of money is necessary,” he said.
As his party struggles to maintain control of Congress, Mr. Trump has been criticized from within his own party as tightfisted.
The president told reporters he estimated he has “like close to a billion dollars” to spend on politics, a total that perhaps includes Republican National Committee funds and money in Mr. Trump’s campaign account. Federal Election Commission documents show that MAGA Inc., Mr. Trump’s political action committee, has about $403 million on hand.
This year, Mr. Trump has spent money to help another candidate once, boosting Senator Darline Graham of South Carolina through last month’s Republican primary in what most political observers view as a safe state for Republicans.
But Republicans in other states are in much more danger of falling to Democrats. The G.O.P. is at risk of losing the House and, to a lesser degree, the Senate, dragged down by Mr. Trump’s low approval ratings. While some candidates have attempted to distance themselves from the president, most are still hoping that Mr. Trump will come through with financial support for their races.
“I’m going to be making contributions to various campaigns of people that I think are good, Republicans that I think are good,” he said.
Even so, Mr. Trump said he planned to save some of his funds for races that are still two years off.
“I expect to have money left over, and we can use that for ’28,” he said.
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