Day: August 1, 2025

President Donald Trump is raking in cash for his political operation, building up funds that could allow him to continue to be a political kingmaker even as he cannot seek reelection.

The president’s primary super PAC brought in a whopping nearly $177 million in the first half of the year, while his leadership PAC raised $28 million, according to filings submitted to the Federal Election Commission late Thursday.

Those two groups alone reported a combined $234 million cash on hand at the end of June, the filings show — a massive sum. And a separate joint fundraising committee had $12 million more in the bank, much of which will later be transferred to other groups in Trump’s political network.

The Trump-linked groups have largely not begun to deploy that cash, instead building up a war chest the president could use next year in primaries or to boost Republicans’ prospects in the midterms. Trump has already shown substantial interest in the 2026 elections, with the White House intervening to encourage some GOP incumbents to run again, pushing potential challengers out of primary fields and asking Texas Republicans to draw new districts with the hopes of gaining seats.

Having millions of dollars at Trump’s disposal — an unheard of amount for a sitting president who cannot run again — could allow him to become one of the biggest single players in next year’s midterms, alongside longstanding GOP stalwarts like the Congressional Leadership Fund and Senate Leadership Fund. Trump could boost his preferred candidates in GOP primaries, or flood the zone in competitive general election races in an effort to help Republicans keep control of Congress.

Trump has a smattering of political groups. His primary joint fundraising committee, Trump National Committee, spent $17 million on operating expenses while transferring just over $20 million each to the Republican National Committee and Never Surrender. A range of other political groups, including his former campaign committees from his 2016 and 2020 presidential bids, continue to spend relatively small amounts of money and get transfers from older joint fundraising committees, but largely are not involved in building up his cash.

Trump’s primary leadership PAC now is Never Surrender, which was converted from his 2024 campaign committee. It ended June with $38 million cash on hand, after spending $16.8 million, the majority of which was expenses lingering from Trump’s campaign last year.

MAGA Inc., the primary pro-Trump super PAC, reported a whopping $196 million cash on hand, after spending only a few million dollars.

The group, which does not face donation limits, benefited from fundraisers featuring Trump and Vice President JD Vance this spring. It raised money from a range of longtime GOP megadonors and cryptocurrency interests:

• Jeff Yass gave $16 million
• The pro-Trump dark money group Securing American Greatness gave $13.75 million 
• Energy Transfer Partners gave $12.5 million, as did its CEO, Kelcy Warren 
• Foris DAX, Inc., a cryptocurrency-linked entity, gave $10 million
• Blockchain.com, a cryptocurrency company, gave $5 million
• Elon Musk, who has publicly feuded with Trump in recent months, gave $5 million

The super PAC also received some donations made in bitcoin. Trump signed a landmark cryptocurrency bill favored by the industry in June, and his business empire has quickly expanded its crypto interests.

​Politics

Roy Cooper has an early, six-point lead in the North Carolina Senate race, according to the first public poll of the marquee contest.

The Emerson College poll, released Friday morning, found the Democratic former North Carolina governor with 47 percent support to Republican National Committee chair Michael Whatley’s 41 percent. Another 12 percent of voters are undecided.

The North Carolina Senate race — likely between Cooper and Whatley, who have each cleared their respective primary fields — is expected to be one of the most competitive and expensive in 2026. It’s the top offensive target for Democrats, who must net four seats to retake the Senate. In June, North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis declined to run for reelection after clashing with President Donald Trump over his domestic agenda and warning fellow Republicans about the Medicaid cuts in their spending package.

Cooper, who finished his second term in 2024, starts the open race to replace Tillis with stronger name recognition and favorability than Whatley, a first-time candidate. Most voters view Cooper positively, one-third perceive him negatively and just 13 percent are unsure, the poll found.

By contrast, nearly two-thirds of voters do not know or are unsure of Whatley and another 17 percent view him favorably — capturing his challenge to quickly define himself with an electorate that isn’t familiar with him.

Cooper also holds a 19-point edge among independent voters, a significant bloc that supported him during his gubernatorial campaigns. For now, these voters prefer Cooper to Whatley 47 percent to 28 percent.

But in a preview of what will be a tight Senate race in a hyper-partisan environment, voters in purple North Carolina are evenly divided on whom they prefer on the generic congressional ballot: 41.5 percent support would back the Democrat and 41.3 percent would back the Republican.

In the 2028 presidential primary, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg leads among Democratic voters in North Carolina with 17 percent support. Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who opted against a gubernatorial run this week, receives 12 percent, followed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom with 10 percent and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders with 7 percent. Nearly a quarter of the Democratic voters are undecided.

Among Republicans, Vice President JD Vance dominates the GOP primary with 53 percent backing him, compared to 7 percent for Florida Gov. and failed 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and 5 percent for Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Emerson College conducted the poll from July 28 through July 30, interviewing 1,000 registered North Carolina voters. It has a 3-point margin of error.

​Politics