Fight brews over Trump’s million-dollar campaign war chest
President Trump’s political operation is sitting on hundreds of billions of dollars, a staggering amount for a political figure who is term-limited.
The campaign stands to make much more when Elon Musk is reportedly set to give another $100 million.
That has raised the questions about just how Trump will go about using his enormous financial firepower in the months and years to come, a debate that is already playing out among some in the president’s orbit.
“The question about the war chest and what it’s being used for is a very big conversation that’s occurring,” one source familiar with the matter told The Hill.
Trump has maintained strong relationships with some of his biggest donors since winning last November’s election and has continued to raise money in its aftermath.
The president’s campaign apparatus has been converted to Never Surrender Inc., which is classified as a leadership political action committee (PAC) and ended 2024 with more than $27 million in cash on hand.
There is also MAGA Inc., the primary super PAC affiliated with Trump’s 2024 bid that hosted a high-dollar dinner with the president at Mar-a-Lago this month.
Musk, the Tesla CEO who has become one of Trump’s biggest boosters, is reportedly looking to give $100 million to Trump’s political apparatus, though it is not clear when or where it will be deposited.
Sources told The Hill that conversations are ongoing about how exactly to use the funds at hand. There is consensus that much of the money will be spent in the 2026 midterms to maintain GOP majorities in the House and Senate, but it’s less clear how Trump’s team will go about doing that.
Some Trump allies have advocated for a large sum of money to be transferred to the Senate Leadership Fund and the Congressional Leadership Fund, the independent super PACs dedicated to helping Republican candidates in the Senate and House, respectively.
“My guess is that a lot of this money is just going to be transferred to SLF and CLF because that’s where midterm fights are going to happen anyway,” one Republican strategist who requested anonymity told The Hill. “Some people would probably say it’s malpractice if it's not and they just sit on this money and try to do something themselves.”
Trump could use some of the money to fund primary challengers to lawmakers he disagrees with. Trump has already signaled he would support a primary against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who last week opposed a GOP-crafted government funding measure.
Trump’s political operation has had some success in the past at defeating lawmakers deemed not MAGA enough, such as when they backed Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.) against former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) against former Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.).
But Republicans in Congress who are seeking reelection are largely in lockstep with Trump and are unlikely to face MAGA challengers. And backing a House primary would only cost Trump’s political operation a few million dollars.
The sheer size of Trump’s war chest also serves as something of a political enforcement tool. Lawmakers facing reelection in battleground districts or states are less likely to break with the president if they know he or Musk could spend millions on attack ads against them.
The White House referred questions to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which did not respond to a request for comment. But the RNC did announce Tuesday that Vice President Vance will serve as finance chairman. It is the first time a sitting vice president will hold the role, further cementing Trump's grip on the party's political operations.
Trump’s continued fundraising strength has also helped fuel chatter about his own intentions in 2028. Trump cannot be elected to a third term under the 22nd Amendment, and the vast majority of Republicans view his nods to the idea as trolling critics. But that hasn’t stopped Trump and some of his allies from talking about it.
The president has raised the idea of finding a way to run again during multiple meetings with House lawmakers. One GOP member has introduced an amendment to allow Trump to run for a third term. And supporters wore “Trump 2028” stickers at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
“I think there’s some people that would like it to be so. It’s just a troll as far as I’m concerned,” the Republican strategist told The Hill. “The people that want it to be so don’t have the ability to make it so or the wherewithal to know it’s not realistically possible.”
Trump's snowbird travels
Through two months of his second term, Trump has been something of a snowbird.
The president has traveled to Florida to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago resort all but one time since he took office. That lone outlier was the weekend of Feb. 21, when he hosted the National Governors Association Dinner at the White House.
Trump’s first week in office he visited North Carolina and California to view natural disaster recovery efforts, with a stop in Nevada sandwiched in between. He capped that trip off with a stay in Florida as well.
During each of those weekends at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has made at least one trip to his golf club in West Palm Beach.
Trump’s golf habit was a point of fixation for his critics during his first term. He defended it as a form of exercise, and the president appears poised to golf as much, or more, during his second term.
As for the lack of political travel, Trump has teased that a trip to Saudi Arabia could be on the horizon in the coming months. Domestically, a Trump to the southern border could be in the works as well.
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