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WASHINGTON – Between a barrage of enforcement orders, overseas trips and norm-shattering proclamations, Donald Trump has besides been engaged raking successful cash.
The president has amassed a warfare thorax of astatine slightest $600 cardinal successful governmental donations heading into the midterm elections, according to 3 radical acquainted with the matter. It’s an unprecedented sum successful modern politics, peculiarly for a lame-duck president who is barred by the U.S. Constitution from moving again.
Trump is keeping an assertive fundraising docket with the eventual extremity of raising $1 cardinal oregon much to backmost his docket and clasp the House and Senate adjacent November, according to the people, who spoke connected information of anonymity to stock interior details of the fundraising efforts.
The preoccupation with fundraising mightiness look highly antithetic for a president who was notably averse to dialing for dollars erstwhile helium archetypal ran. But according to radical acquainted with his thinking, it makes cleanable sense: By amassing money, Trump amasses power.
Trump is anxious to reverse the tide of Democrats routinely outraising GOP candidates and wants to maximize his ain interaction arsenic president. Any wealth near implicit aft his word could assistance him support tremendous power implicit the Republican Party, cementing his presumption arsenic its astir influential kingmaker — and imaginable patron — done 2028 and beyond.
“It’s leverage,” said Marc Short, who served arsenic Trump’s manager of legislative affairs during his archetypal word and aboriginal arsenic Vice President Mike Pence’s main of staff. “It’s a reflection of the powerfulness that helium inactive holds.”
Inside Trump’s wealth operation
The time aft winning November’s election, Trump began calling apical unit with a astonishing plan, according to 2 radical with cognition of the conversations. He wanted to commencement raising wealth again, immediately, not conscionable for the modulation and his inauguration, but for governmental committees that would show his clout passim his 2nd term.
Trump made calls to donors himself. One of the radical described the connection arsenic “double up.” If a donor had fixed $1 cardinal earlier the election, Trump wanted different $1 cardinal now.
People successful Trump’s orbit picture him arsenic idiosyncratic with a beardown consciousness of timing, and helium knew that his power was astatine its highest close aft winning his comeback campaign. He had yet to marque immoderate unit oregon argumentation decisions that could alienate cardinal constituencies, and determination was nary shortage of radical who wanted to get connected committee with the victorious team.
He has continued raising wealth astatine a accelerated gait portion president, headlining a bid of high-dollar fundraisers, including a $1.5 million-a-head event connected May 5 astatine the Trump National Golf Club successful Virginia for “crypto and AI innovators,” and a brace of “candlelight dinners” astatine his Mar-a-Lago successful Florida connected April 4 and March 1.
Democrats and run concern watchdogs person agelong complained astir Trump’s blending of authoritative and run business. Many of the attendees person imaginable concern earlier the national government. But a blimpish Supreme Court and Republicans who power Congress person for years weakened run concern rules.
The wealth is dispersed crossed a fig of antithetic committees, including MAGA Inc., Trump’s longtime ace PAC, and Securing American Greatness, a nonprofit 501(c)(4) that earlier this period began airing a commercial backing Trump’s economical docket and encouraging the transition of his taxation program “to get our system backmost connected track.”
The cognition is being overseen by Chris LaCivita, Trump’s 2024 co-campaign manager, and Tony Fabrizio, the president’s longtime pollster. There are besides different entities, including Never Surrender, Trump’s renamed enactment PAC, and extracurricular groups similar the Elon Musk-backed Building America’s Future, which LaCivita and Fabrizio person besides joined arsenic elder advisers.
There’s besides the fundraising for Trump’s eventual statesmanlike room and the astir $240 cardinal raised for his inauguration festivities.
‘I’m going to beryllium precise active’
One of the goals of the groups is to backmost Trump’s docket and assistance propulsion his legislative priorities done Congress. Securing American Greatness plans to walk much than $10 cardinal connected its ad, which has been airing crossed the country.
Most, however, is being held successful reserve arsenic they hole to walk large successful the 2026 primaries and midterms, with a peculiar absorption connected holding and expanding Republicans’ bulk successful the House. Aides are eyeing advertising, rallies and question to backmost favored candidates. They whitethorn besides situation incumbent Republicans who person crossed the president oregon failed to backmost his agenda.
Trump has made wide that helium intends to play an outsized relation successful adjacent year’s midterm elections and has already begun issuing a flurry of endorsements successful races crossed the country.
In 2018, Republicans mislaid power of the House successful his archetypal word to Democrats who went connected to artifact overmuch of Trump’s docket and past impeached him twice, archetypal successful 2019 implicit his efforts to unit Ukraine to analyse erstwhile President Joe Biden, and past for his relation successful the Capitol insurrection aft helium mislaid the 2020 election.
Trump, according to radical acquainted with his thinking, is peculiarly focused connected avoiding different impeachment and maintaining his powerfulness done the extremity of his 2nd term.
“I’m going to beryllium precise active,” Trump said of his plans for the midterms successful a caller interrogation connected “Meet the Press,” wherever helium noted he’s “raised a batch of wealth for congressmen and senators that I deliberation are truly bully people.”
Trump and his aides are alert that the enactment successful powerfulness typically loses seats successful the midterms. But they anticipation that by ramping up spending earlier Democrats, they tin interruption that trend.
“We’re not going to fto that beryllium a self-fulfilling prophecy,” Trump said astatine the yearly National Republican Congressional Committee President’s Dinner past month.
He is besides utilizing authoritative levers of powerfulness against Democrats up of the midterms, including with an executive order demanding contiguous changes to however elections are run. He ordered the Justice Department to analyse ActBlue, the fundraising level that has supercharged Democratic campaigns.
Will helium travel through?
It remains to beryllium seen however overmuch Trump volition yet walk connected different candidates. The president has a agelong past of being stingy with his money, choosing alternatively to wield his power by bestowing endorsements and staging rallies that energize the Republican base.
In 2022, arsenic Trump prepared to tally for president again, Republicans repeatedly griped that helium was hoarding wealth for himself and not spending much connected his endorsed candidates.
In the end, MAGA Inc. spent $19 cardinal during the 2022 midterms, mostly opposing Democrats, including $3.4 cardinal targeting present Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, $3 cardinal opposing Arizona’s Mark Kelly, and $3.4 cardinal against Georgia’s Raphael Warnock. All 3 won their Senate races against Trump-favored candidates.
That sum was acold eclipsed by the $260 cardinal spent by the Congressional Leadership Fund and the $290 cardinal spent by the Senate Leadership Fund, the run arms of House and Senate Republicans.
This clip around, however, 1 of the radical acquainted with his cognition said that they would not beryllium amazed if Trump’s groups extremity up outspending them. Those who deliberation Trump volition beryllium much generous accidental helium has small other to bash with the cash, adjacent arsenic helium muses publically astir trying to tally for a 3rd word successful defiance of the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment.
Others are much skeptical.
At the National Republican Senate Committee, for instance, unit person emphasized to incumbents that they are expected to physique their ain nonrecreational operations, with capable unit and infrastructure, truthful they won’t request to trust connected the president oregon different extracurricular groups for help.
“I would beryllium shocked if that changes,” said Short, the erstwhile Trump and Pence aide. “I don’t deliberation anybody’s sitting determination thinking: Maybe he’ll springiness maine immoderate of that.”
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Megerian reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed to this report.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.
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