President Donald Trump has finally given the green light to pour millions of dollars from his personal PAC toward boosting vulnerable Republicans in November, two people familiar with the plans told CNN, as some top campaign advisers privately acknowledge that Republicans’ chances of keeping control of both the House and Senate are dwindling.
Trump’s political team is still debating what the final dollar figure will be, though one person familiar with the discussions floated $30 million in the first tranche. Another official cautioned that the final amounts have not yet been decided. The long-awaited cash infusion is happening in the coming weeks, two people said, describing it as the first salvo in a stretch-run effort as November looms just three months away.
And it comes amid growing GOP concerns that severe headwinds over the Iran war and high gas prices could suppress voter turnout.
“There is a path where we keep the House and the Senate,” one source told CNN. “I’m not in a place today where I’m prepared to say we’re cautiously optimistic about that.”
Trump is also belatedly preparing to ratchet up his own campaigning schedule, with plans to travel at least once a week to hold a spate of rallies in battleground districts, one adviser said. His team first promised this move months ago, and Republicans have long argued it’s a crucial step to energizing MAGA voters critical to the party’s midterm chances.
“He loves to travel, but he hates to travel,” said one of his advisers, noting that domestic issues and the Iran war upended early plans to get him on the road more frequently. Trump has recently told his closest aides that he wants to be out more stumping for GOP candidates. But advisers acknowledge his enthusiasm could evaporate just as quickly.
“President Trump is the unequivocal leader of the Republican party who is committed to maintaining Republicans’ majority in Congress. In just over one year, the President has made our country greater than ever before with the most secure border in American history, the largest middle-class tax cuts ever, and the lowest murder rate since 1900,” White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said in a statement to CNN.
“President Trump will continue to draw a sharp contrast with his commonsense agenda and the radical Democrats in Congress,” she added.
Leaning into the base
An adviser close to Trump acknowledged that, with the president’s approval ratings scraping new lows, there’s little expectation he can win over large numbers of independents and swing voters — which was part of his path to victory in critical swing states in 2024. Instead, Republicans believe their fate in November rests almost solely on turning out millions of the MAGA faithful who typically don’t vote in midterm elections.
“Without a doubt, we’ve got to make sure we get some of these voters who show up for Donald Trump in presidential elections to show up for these congressionals,” the adviser said.
But in recent months, Trump and Republicans haven’t offered much to energize their base. Congressional Republicans squandered the final weeks before the August recess fighting amongst themselves over legislation — specifically the president’s controversial elections bill that would cement federal voter ID laws and install more voting restrictions, which stands little chance of becoming law and never even made it to the Senate floor.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune watches as Trump speaks to the media as they arrive at the US Capitol to attend a closed-door luncheon with the Republican Senate Steering Committee to push his SAVE America Act on June 24 in Washington, DC. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Congressional GOP leaders have long believed that their success in the midterms will largely hang on Trump’s ability to recreate his 2024 coalition. They need Trump to help turn out as much of his MAGA base as possible in crucial battleground turf — especially in states like Michigan, Ohio and North Carolina, which have critical House and Senate races that could determine control of Congress next January.
Republicans are defending critical blue-state seats too, like the pivotal Senate seat in Maine and several House seats in both New York and California. But the vast majority of this fall’s map is in places where Trump has already proven he can win, like in Iowa and Pennsylvania.
GOP campaign officials have also been urging their candidates from the start to lean in — not away — from Trump on the trail, according to House and Senate campaign operatives. That includes even the most centrist Republicans, like Rep. Mike Lawler, who represents a vulnerable seat in New York’s Hudson Valley and welcomed Trump this spring for a joint rally in one of the reddest parts of his district.
Lawmakers also need him to stay on message, driving out big crowds and turning on his election-year charm with talk of the GOP’s accomplishments on affordability. But Trump has made little headway in selling his domestic accomplishments — or ending a monthslong foreign war that he repeatedly vowed would only last four to six weeks.
A US Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of 1st Lt. Tyler James Feehan of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, one of four US soldiers who were recently killed in the war with Iran, on Wednesday, July 22, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Matt Rourke/AP
In private conversations with Trump, some advisers have sought to emphasize how significantly the war is dragging down Republicans’ chances, arguing that even voters who generally support his goals in Iran are unwilling to stomach a drawn-out conflict that’s raising prices at home.
The prospect of persistently high gas prices has particularly damaged Trump’s standing, people familiar with the internal discussions said, serving as a prominent visual reminder of an affordability crisis that many Americans feel has gotten worse under this administration.
