Trump, Raking In Cash, Expands His Power in the G.O.P. Money World

New York Times

10-05-2025

President Trump is harnessing the Republican Party's all-encompassing deference to him to exert even greater control over the G.O.P. big-money world, which had long been one of the party's final remaining redoubts of Trump skepticism.
For years, the super PACs allied with House and Senate Republicans have been some of the most powerful and independent fiefs in American politics, raising and spending hundreds of millions of dollars in each election.
But even though Mr. Trump is in his second term and cannot run again, he is quickly bringing them inside his sphere of influence — a sign that his dominance over the party could endure well into the future.
Both super PACs, the Congressional Leadership Fund and the Senate Leadership Fund, have new leaders this year, and they are working closer than ever with the White House, overhauling their boards of directors and installing veteran Trump strategists in senior positions.
At the same time, Mr. Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., and its allied nonprofit group have already amassed roughly $400 million since the 2024 election, according to two people briefed on the fund-raising who insisted on anonymity to discuss the organization's finances. That sum is without precedent so early in an election cycle, especially for a termed-out president. The Trump super PAC is expected to play a major role in the midterm elections, scrambling the usual flow of cash and encroaching on the traditional dominion of the congressional super PACs.
The changes — both in personnel and financial firepower — amount to a fundamental reordering of Republican finance, and an extraordinary expansion of Mr. Trump's already overwhelming sway. Interviews with senior Republicans allied with leaders on Capitol Hill reveal private fears about a power imbalance if the G.O.P.'s top super PACs are weakened and overly submissive to Mr. Trump.
The concerns are especially acute in the House, where Speaker Mike Johnson owes his post largely to Mr. Trump. His allies fear not only for their independence but also for how this will play out when the president's personal resentments and agenda are at odds with the political priorities of the Republican leaders of the chambers, dividing the G.O.P. and potentially delivering an edge to Democrats.
Some Republicans say that a hand-in-glove relationship between Capitol Hill and the White House is simply good politics, and that bringing Mr. Trump's allies inside the tent is far more strategic than having the president wreak havoc from afar. Republican strategists involved in the midterm elections agree that the party must motivate Trump supporters to turn out even when he is not on the ballot.
'Political alignment in a midterm is an absolute necessity,' said Josh Holmes, who played a key role advising the Senate Leadership Fund when Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky was the majority leader. 'I worry a lot less about whose bank account looks bigger than I do about the alignment.'
An Influx of Trump Allies
Big changes are happening at the Congressional Leadership Fund, the main outside group working to elect Republicans to the House.
The new president of the super PAC and its allied nonprofit group, Chris Winkelman, is actively soliciting Mr. Trump's team for collaboration. One of the president's top advisers in 2024, Chris LaCivita, is now a senior adviser to the group in addition to helping steer MAGA Inc.
The House super PAC is also adding at least three new people to its board of directors, including Andy Surabian, a top political adviser to Vice President JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr., and Richard Walters, a top strategist at the Republican National Committee during the elder Mr. Trump's first term and his 2024 campaign. The additions, which also include Matt Brooks, the chief executive of the pro-Trump Republican Jewish Coalition, have not been previously reported.
'We are actively seeking these people out because they are good at what they do,' Mr. Winkelman said in an interview. 'This is what a unified government among political professionals is supposed to look like.'
Trump allies are arriving on the Senate side, too.
The new executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund and its allied nonprofit group, Alex Latcham, was an official on the Trump 2024 campaign. He said his group would 'work closely with President Trump to ensure the Democrats' radical vision for America never becomes reality.'
The Senate super PAC is replacing its entire board of directors. It is not clear what the board's makeup will be, though its new chair is former Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, who is close to some major donors. Other members are expected to be allies of Senator John Thune, the new majority leader. One Thune confidant, Johnny DeStefano, who served in the first Trump administration, has joined the S.L.F. board and already serves on the C.L.F. board.
While the super PACs are guided largely — though not directly — by the party's leader in each chamber, the changes to the groups' boards are significant for their symbolism.
Visions of Trouble Ahead
The fact that Mr. Trump's super PAC could dwarf those of congressional leaders looms large.
The president, of course, has always played a big role in down-ballot races, freely endorsing 2022 midterm candidates in ways that frustrated some senior Republicans. But he was not a big factor financially. The Congressional Leadership Fund spent about $260 million that cycle, and the Senate Leadership Fund spent $290 million, while Mr. Trump's group laid out just $19 million.
So far, early in the 2026 election cycle, Republicans say, there are few signs of outright conflict between Mr. Trump's operation and those of Capitol Hill Republicans. But in private conversations among themselves, some Republicans say they can see foresee trouble.
The top concern is if MAGA Inc. starts spending its war chest against someone like Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents in 2026.
This week, Mr. Tillis announced that he would not support Ed Martin, Mr. Trump's nominee for United States attorney for Washington, because of his work defending the rioters who stormed the Capitol in 2021. The move forced the White House to pull the nomination.
The incentives for Mr. Trump, who prizes loyalty and is not up for re-election, could easily diverge from the aims of the Senate super PAC, which generally tries to support more moderate nominees and pursues a principal goal of re-electing incumbents, Republicans say.
In private conversations, Mr. Winkelman has expressed concern about his super PAC being outmuscled by Mr. Trump's groups, according to three people who have discussed the matter with him.
Mr. Winkelman denied expressing that sentiment. 'This isn't true,' he said in a statement, adding that the Trump team was invested in holding the House majority. 'We'd be stupid not to welcome more money and more wins,' he said.
Unprecedented Fund-Raising
Never before has a term-limited president amassed so much fund-raising power.
The only other second-term president in the super PAC era to have such a group was President Barack Obama after 2012. But his super PAC, Priorities USA, effectively went dormant for the 2014 midterms.
Mr. Trump made a different decision. He has headlined at least six fund-raisers for MAGA Inc. since he was elected in November, with the price tag for a seat reaching as high as $1.5 million for an event with cryptocurrency executives that he attended on Monday in the Washington area.
Plenty of the money that Mr. Trump is raising comes from corporate interests eager for better access to him.
Mr. Trump's allies say, essentially, that he is raising the money because he can. But it is hard to ignore that the gusher of cash coincides with his repeated comments about a constitutionally prohibited third term. MAGA Inc. officials did not respond to requests for comment.
Even some of the people helping him raise money are privately confused why doing so is such a priority, though Mr. Trump is said to be far more aware of the importance of keeping control of Congress than he was in his first term.
Mr. Trump also now has the support of the world's richest man, Elon Musk, who has signaled that he wants to donate at least $100 million more to the president's political operation.
'Cannibalization' Concerns
So far, the Trump political groups have mostly laid low as they vacuum up money. But on Friday, the nonprofit arm, Securing American Greatness, began buying television ads to promote the president's tax plan.
Some Republicans worry about 'cannibalization,' or the House and Senate super PACs struggling because donors and corporations are sending their limited resources to Mr. Trump's groups.
Mr. Thune is keeping up an aggressive fund-raising schedule. This month, the Senate Leadership Fund hosted a donor event on the sidelines of a Formula 1 race in Miami.
Still, some candidates, uneasy about the new funding landscape, are considering starting their own outside groups.
Some people close to Mr. Tillis, for instance, are uncertain about how much financial backup he will receive from Mr. Thune, especially if Mr. Trump goes after the North Carolina senator. Mr. Tillis is in the process of setting up his own outside groups for the race, according to two people briefed on the matter. The move is intended to simply give him more ways to raise money, but it would also inevitably offer him more financial autonomy.
Jordan Shaw, a strategist for Mr. Tillis, said that the campaign had 'all the confidence in the world in S.L.F., MAGA Inc. and the entire Republican ecosystem.'
MAGA Inc. itself has brought in one notable new adviser: Chris Buskirk, who leads an influential group of donors called the Rockbridge Network and is close to Mr. Vance. His role at the super PAC, which is previously unreported, could help the vice president down the line.
Mr. LaCivita, meanwhile, is not only involved in MAGA Inc. and the House G.O.P. super PAC. He was quietly added recently to the board of Data Trust, a Republican firm — adding to his overlapping roles that place him in the middle of the billionaire world.