Trump and Musk Super PACs Pour Millions Into Battleground Races

With less than eight weeks until Election Day, the two dominant Republican money forces of the 2026 midterms — President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk — have begun deploying their financial resources in earnest.

A Trump-affiliated super PAC, No Going Back, has reserved more than $24.9 million in television advertising across six battleground states: Alaska, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire and Ohio, according to political ad research firm AdImpact. The group registered with the Federal Election Commission on September 1.

Separately, Musk's America PAC and Trump's main fundraising arm, MAGA Inc., have recently directed $2.4 million and $10 million respectively into the Texas Senate race, where state Attorney General Ken Paxton is at risk of becoming the first Republican to lose a statewide election there in decades. About $6.9 million of that sum is being spent on attack ads against Democratic state lawmaker James Talarico, who leads Paxton by 2.1 percentage points in an average of polls compiled by Nate Silver's Silver Bulletin.

"Republicans now must spend real money defending an expanded map," said Republican strategist Brad Dayspring of Purple Strategies. "When you suddenly have to put millions into Texas, having President Trump and Musk open their wallets gives Republicans the ability to shore up vulnerable races without draining resources from the rest of the map."

Musk's America PAC is expected to play a major role in Republican voter turnout efforts, with spending on door knockers, digital advertising and direct-mail campaigns ahead of the November 3 election. Federal filings show the PAC has already spent more than $7 million on digital advertising, text messages, voter calls, mailers and other printed materials. A spokesman for the PAC declined to comment.

Trump told reporters last week that he planned to allocate $400 million to $500 million to boost Republicans in the midterms. His approval rating remains at the lowest level of his political career, and polling shows Democrats are more motivated to vote.

The new No Going Back PAC is being supported by Trump's midterm war chest, according to one person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. It is unclear how much of that war chest will be allocated through the new group. Though MAGA Inc. and No Going Back are not yet formally affiliated, they share the same treasurer — Charles Gantt — as well as the same phone number and address at a firm in Massachusetts. Gantt, MAGA Inc. and No Going Back did not return requests for comment.

The New York Times reported that No Going Back spent $49 million reserving advertising on Tuesday and Wednesday alone. The reason for establishing the new PAC is not clear, but Republican strategist Ron Bonjean said it helps distance Trump and his MAGA movement from campaign donations as voters sour on the president.

"It's a brilliant strategy because it takes MAGA out of the name. It takes any affiliation to Trump out of the name. It has an innocuous name that no one will care about as opposed to MAGA Inc., which could turn off independent voters right away," said Bonjean, a partner at bipartisan public affairs firm Rokk Solutions in Washington.

The new PAC has used some of the same vendors as MAGA Inc., and in August some officials from MAGA Inc. began telegraphing to Republicans their intention to create a new PAC, according to the person familiar with the operation. The timing of No Going Back's registration will delay full disclosure of its donors until late October under FEC rules.

Trump capped the first day of his party's first-ever midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday by proposing to pay every U.S. adult a $5,000 "Trump dividend" if the party wins the congressional elections. It was not immediately clear how the payments would work or whether they would be legal.