Trump's $403 million war chest is finally being spent on the midterms. Now comes the hard part

Trump MAGA Inc. $403 million war chest spending in 2026 midterms Skip Navigation Markets Business Investing Tech Politics & Policy Video Watchlist Investing Club PRO Livestream Menu Key Points Trump’s flagship super PAC, MAGA Inc., ended July with more than $403 million in cash, much of it held back as competitive congressional races took shape. Democratic Senate candidates entered July with roughly twice as much cash as their Republican opponents across seven closely watched battlegrounds. The late outside spending comes with tradeoffs: Super PACs can pay more than candidates can for comparable airtime, while crowded ad markets and a wider Senate battlefield make huge sums harder to spend efficiently. President Donald Trump speaks on the first day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 9, 2026. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images News | Getty Images After sitting on a $403 million war chest for months, President Donald Trump's flagship super PAC has finally opened the spending floodgates. The rapid deployment of Make America Great Again Inc.'s cash is reshaping some of the tightest congressional races ahead of the 2026 midterm election . For Republicans , the cavalry couldn't come soon enough. GOP candidates spent months wondering when Trump's massive coffer would come to their aid as Democratic opponents outraised them, sentiment soured on the economy and an expanding number of competitive Senate races pushed the party onto the defensive. But with fewer than seven weeks until Election Day , the question is how much value Trump's allies can wring from such an enormous sum, with some of the best advertising space already reserved and the most valuable voters being bombarded from every direction. "They can still effectively use that money, but the ship has sailed on using it as effectively as possible," said Joshua Wolf , a partner at AL Media Strategy, a Democratic political media firm, and co-founder of Warchest, a campaign budgeting platform used by Democratic campaigns. "It is not too late for it to have an impact. But they've sort of missed their window to optimize the value of that money for sure." Still, finding places to spend it is not the problem. "Can it be deployed? Sure," said Ken Goldstein , a politics professor at the University of San Francisco and a former president of a political consulting firm that has worked for both Democratic and Republican campaigns. "Is it a little bit more difficult later in the game? Sure. But there's plenty of ways to deploy that money." Read more CNBC politics and policy coverage Trump administration advances $24.3 billion F-35 deal to Saudi Arabia Bill to curb AI data center utility costs hits snag in Senate House heads home to campaign amid calls for urgent AI action The cash gap Entering July, Democratic candidates held a roughly 2-to-1 cash advantage across seven of the most competitive Senate battlegrounds , stockpiling about $75 million in combined cash compared with the GOP's $38 million, according to a CNBC analysis of the most recent Federal Election Commission filings. The gap was starkest in Texas . Democratic nominee James Talarico entered July with $21.5 million in cash on hand, more than 12 times the $1.8 million held by his Republican opponent Ken Paxton , according to FEC records. That early cash advantage can give campaigns more time to shape the race before most voters fully tune in. "Democrats will tend to try and go a little bit earlier with advertising and try and define the race before it gets baked in," Goldstein said. Republicans, he said, have historically been more willing to wait, on the theory that voters — particularly in midterms — do not begin paying close attention until closer to Election Day. Over the past two weeks, three Trump-linked super PACs have reserved more than $136.5 million in advertising across House and Senate races, according to a CNBC calculation based on AdImpact data. The newly formed No Going Back PAC alone has reserved more than $98.5 million in advertising, with its spending concentrated most heavily in competitive Senate contests, according to AdImpact, which tracks what's been spent on political advertising and reservations for future ads. In Texas, Trump's MAGA Inc., committed roughly $10 million , while the Elon Musk-backed America PAC added about $2.6 million, according to FEC filings . "Definitely not too little, too late. It's a lot of money," said Jaime Vasil Winkelfoos , group vice president for Candidates + Causes at Basis Technologies, a digital advertising and media platform. "It's more a question of how much are they willing to pay." Logistical hurdles Federal communications law entitles official candidates to broadcasters' " lowest unit charge " during the final 60 days before a general election, meaning they get the best possible price for airtime. Super PACs like MAGA Inc. enj