President Donald Trump’s political operation has begun pouring money into the midterm elections, booking at least $47 million in television ads through a new super PAC tied to his roughly $400 million war chest.
The reservations, placed Tuesday and Wednesday by a group called No Going Back PAC Inc., mark the biggest midterm expenditure yet drawn from the stockpile Republicans spent months questioning whether Trump would ever deploy. The New York Times reported the group is financially backed by MAGA Inc., Trump’s main super PAC, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to disclose the private spending plans.
For most of the cycle, MAGA Inc. sat on the money without making a major expenditure on the party’s candidates, drawing open frustration from Republicans who feared the president would hold the cash for his own purposes.
“That’s the $400 million question. I don’t know,” one operative said in July of the group’s refusal to spend in a single race. “They have indicated they’re going to spend. But not where or when. And those are kind of big details.”
Trump’s team had insisted the money would move. James Blair, a coordinator of the president’s midterm effort, said Trump intends to spend heavily to protect the party’s narrow majorities.
“The president is going to expend substantial resources to win the midterms,” Blair said. “He cares deeply about the party winning.”
The reservations target Senate contests in Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Alaska, North Carolina, and Georgia, along with a Pennsylvania House race. According to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, the largest commitments are $14.9 million in Michigan and $11.1 million in Ohio.
No Going Back PAC was incorporated on September 1, days before the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. Because it formed this month, the group will not have to disclose its donors until October 20.
The spending follows Trump’s $10 million buy backing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the operation’s first major fall investment. Republicans hold a 53-47 Senate majority.
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