President Donald Trump has a plan to continue wielding power beyond his final term in the White House.
The president has amassed a massive of sum of $600 million for his war chest and wants to hit $1 billion by the midterms so he can use those funds to keep a Republican Senate and House, The Associated Press reported.
And beyond that, he wants to continue fundraising so that he can extend his influence into the 2028 presidential election, people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the AP said.
“It’s leverage,” Marc Short, who was Trump’s director of legislative affairs in his first term and became former Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff, said. “It’s a reflection of the power that he still holds.”
Those close to the situation who spoke to the AP said that the day after he defeated Kamala Harris, he called some of his top staff to pitch his ambitious plan.
He wanted to start fundraising immediately, not just for his inauguration but to flex his muscle for the midterms and beyond.
He made the calls himself and asked people to match their own donations. If that person gave $1 million before the election, he asked them to give $1 million again.
“People in Trump’s orbit describe him as someone with a strong sense of timing, and he knew that his influence was at its peak right after winning his comeback campaign. He had yet to make any personnel or policy decisions that could alienate key constituencies, and there was no shortage of people who wanted to get on board with the victorious team,” the AP reported.
“He has continued raising money at a rapid pace while president, headlining a series of high-dollar fundraisers, including a $1.5 million-a-head event on May 5 at the Trump National Golf Club in Virginia for ‘crypto and AI innovators,’ and a pair of ‘candlelight dinners’ at his Mar-a-Lago in Florida on April 4 and March 1,” the report added.
The funds that have been raised are being used in several committees like his longtime PAC, MAGA Inc., and a nonprofit 501(c)(4) group, Securing American Greatness.
When he spoke to anchor Kristen Welker on “Meet The Press” earlier this month, he said that he would be “very active” for the midterms.
“We’re talking about your agenda, your budget bill, your tax bill, and you think about the next big test, which is the midterms. How do you see your role in the midterms?” the anchor said.
“I’m going to be very active. I’ve raised a lot of money for congressmen and senators that I think are good — really good people. We have some great Republican congressmen and women and senators that love this country, and they’re not lunatics like some of these Democrats. What they’re doing to the country is incredible. It’s insane. There’s something wrong with them. They suffer a major case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. I mean, it doesn’t — nothing matters to them other than that. Yeah, I’m going to be much involved. The interesting thing is — and nobody can explain why — but when somebody wins the presidency they seem to lose Congress. They seem to lose the House and the Senate or…,” he said before Welker asked him how concerned he was about that.
“We have a long way to go. I’ve raised a lot of money. We’re having a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago tonight for exactly that purpose. We want to win the House in bigger numbers,” the president said.
“But, you know, we had a one majority three months ago. Now we have seven because we won a few races. I guess you know that. But we won a few races. But we’re up seven now, and we’re up — we have 53 senators. And I think we’re going to be in very good position. I expect to win by a bigger margin than we have now,” he said.
