A day after President Donald Trump said he would begin covering the cost of controversial taxpayer-funded advertisements through a campaign account, there was still no indication that he intended to repay the millions of federal dollars already spent. A White House official, speaking anonymously, said Trump’s remarks did not signal plans to reimburse the $12 million already spent on ads. The spending is part of a $20 million campaign funded with money Congress allocated to the Department of Homeland Security.
The White House also attempted to explain Trump’s comments suggesting the United States should allow Iran to attack Los Angeles and San Diego, saying the president’s goal was to prevent a nuclear war. Democrats and military veterans countered that no president should imply Americans could be treated as collateral damage.
Trump also said Tuesday that he had a call planned with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible plague case at a research facility in Siberia. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said the conversation with Putin would take place “very soon.”
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More money does not guarantee victory
Democrat Kamala Harris entered the final phase of the 2024 campaign with a major financial advantage over Trump, yet she lost every pivotal swing state as well as the White House. Elon Musk’s $25 million contribution did not carry his preferred candidate to victory in a Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Tom Steyer, meanwhile, failed to reach the California governor’s race despite spending $216 million of his own money.
Republican groups have accumulated about $1 billion, compared with roughly $579 million held by a similar group of major Democratic organizations.
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said the scale of Republican spending was “obscene” and could overwhelm his party in the midterm elections.
“We’re never going to have as much money as them,” Schumer told The Associated Press. “I sum up the election in this sentence: Can a massive Republican advantage in money beat a massive Democratic advantage in better candidates and political climate? I bet it can’t.”
Republicans pay a premium for late spending
The pressure is especially intense in Texas, where Trump is scheduled to return Wednesday for the second time in a week to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Although Texas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1988, MAGA Inc. has spent more than $22 million there over the past month, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
Texas PAC, which is aligned with Senate Majority Leader John Thune, has spent more than $83 million on advertising over the past month—an extraordinary investment to defend what is typically a safe Republican seat. The difference in ad prices was stark: Texas PAC paid $450,000 to broadcast one spot in the Austin market, while Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico’s campaign paid $50,000 for an advertisement during the same game in that market, according to AdImpact.
GOP concerns rise that even $1 billion may not secure a midterm victory
Republicans are growing more worried that the $1 billion available to the party may not be enough to prevent major losses in the midterm elections. Their concerns reflect Trump’s unpopularity, ongoing worries about the cost of living and the political fallout from the war in Iran.
The Republican financial advantage is divided among roughly six groups and is driven largely by Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. The organization had nearly $416 million on hand at the end of August and stepped up spending in key races during September.
However, the late surge may have proved costly. With less advertising time available, Trump’s group has been forced to pay sharply higher rates. Four Republican Senate campaign officials said organizations that reserved airtime last spring secured substantially lower prices than MAGA Inc. and its affiliated groups. The Trump-connected organizations are now sometimes paying more than five times what those ads would have cost had they been booked earlier.
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Families of some U.S. troops killed in the Iran war’s deadliest strike miss White House event
Relatives of some soldiers killed in the Iran war joined dozens of Gold Star families from earlier U.S. conflicts at the White House on Tuesday. Trump offered words of comfort, and candles were lit for fallen service members, according to one widow who attended the event.
Still, not every family of the six soldiers killed March 1 in the war’s deadliest attack chose to attend. Survivors of the strike have questioned why the troops were stationed at a location without sufficient air defenses, despite being considered a likely target.
Michelle Tietjens and other relatives have said they are angry the Army still hasn’t answered questions over whether enough was done to protect their loved ones. But Tietjens and her teenage son traveled from Bellevue, Nebraska, to attend the event to honor her husband, Master Sgt. Noah Tietjens, who was killed along with five other Army Reserve soldiers by an Iranian drone strike in Kuwait.
Tietjens said the reception “didn’t change my feelings on them giving me answers,” and added that she spoke with someone at the White House who offered to try to help.
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Trump says he has call scheduled with Putin to discuss possible case of pneumonic plague in Russia
Trump on Tuesday said he has a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible case of plague at a Siberian research institute.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would be talking with Putin about the case “very soon.” Health authorities are investigating after the death of an employee at an anti-plague institute, which authorities attributed to pneumonia with an unknown cause.
Asked what the U.S. intelligence community was saying about the case, Trump said the U.S. is in “very deep discussions” on the topic. “We’ll be able to report about it, probably tomorrow,” Trump said.
The World Health Organization on Tuesday said the case presents a “very low” risk outside Russia. The United Nations agency said it was in contact with Russian authorities following reports of the death last week of a woman who worked at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East.
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Trump did not call for attacks on US cities but explained how he’s preventing them, aide says
The White House clarified Donald Trump’s comments at a Monday night rally, explaining that the president was not insinuating that he wanted Iran to attack U.S. cities but instead wanted to prevent Tehran from having that capability.
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said on social media Tuesday that the president’s comments have been misunderstood and misrepresented in a “media freakout” that is “not rooted in reality.”
Trump was discussing the Iran war and the resulting high gas prices that have become a midterm liability for Republicans during his remarks in Nebraska when he mentioned the possibility of an Iranian attack on U.S. soil.
“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe,” he said of the war and its economic fallout. “They can take out a city. Let ’em take out Los Angeles, let ’em take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay.”
The commentary was delivered in the familiar meandering style that he uses at campaign rallies, when he speaks for extended periods — often an hour or more — and is only occasionally following prepared remarks on a teleprompter.
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Trump doesn’t commit to repaying federal funds already spent on controversial ads
A day after President Donald Trump said he would start paying for controversial taxpayer-funded ads with a campaign account, there’s no sign he plans to refund the millions of federal dollars already spent on them.
Nearly $12 million worth of ads have already aired, according to AdImpact, as part of the $20 million the Department of Homeland Security tapped for the contract.
But Trump’s plan to pay for the ads with MAGA Inc. doesn’t mean there’s any reimbursement coming, said a White House official who was not authorized to talk publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, Trump said the ads were “really good” and “promotion for the country, done by many presidents before.” Asked whether he’d repay the funds already spent, he said, “We’ll decide.”
The ads, which began airing in late September, glorify Trump and echo his political messaging going into the midterms. Republicans and Democrats alike have said the ads aren’t an appropriate use of U.S. government money.
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