Trump plans to wield cash and endorsements to shape midterm elections

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

72% : Similarly, Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis had signaled to donors her interest in succeeding her husband, Gov. Ron DeSantis - a bid that even the couple's close confidants acknowledge is challenging after Trump threw his support behind Donalds.
60% : Donald Trump holds a campaign event, in Racine, Wisconsin, in June 2024.
58% : Musk spent nearly $300 million of his personal fortune to help elect Trump last year and is expected to contribute significantly to Republican efforts to maintain control of Congress.
55% : In recent weeks, Trump has assured House and Senate Republicans he intends to open up his massive stockpile of campaign reserves - which he has boasted is north of half a billion dollars - to defend the party's slim majorities in both chambers next year, a White House official with knowledge of the conversations told CNN.
55% : Determined this time to have a compliant Congress for all four years, Trump began discussing his midterm strategy shortly after his November victory, people close to him said.
55% : Top advisers have briefed Trump on next year's battleground maps, outlining for him where there are opportunities to add allied Republican governors and seats in Congress as well as which turf will need defending.
53% : "I gotta spend it somewhere," Trump told Republican governors.
53% : "If I can't spend it on me," Trump told Republican governors, "I guess it means I'm going to be spending it on some of my friends.
52% : Trump's former co-campaign manager Chris LaCivita is expected to play a heavy role coordinating midterm strategy from outside the White House. Chris LaCivita, senior advisor to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, speaks to members of the media following a presidential debate between Trump and Joe Biden in Atlanta in June 2024.
51% : Whatever Trump contributes toward helping fellow Republicans would likely outpace his efforts during past midterm election cycles when he still had his own political ambitions to fund.
45% : "There's nothing more valuable than an endorsement from President Trump for a candidate.
45% : Additionally, Trump has converted his 2024 presidential campaign committee into a leadership PAC called Never Surrender, Inc.
44% : That includes eliminating taxes on tips, overtime wages and Social Security, and seeing through Musk's teardown of the federal government.
41% : Already, Trump has a stronger hold on battleground districts than he did last time: Only three House Republicans currently represent seats won by Kamala Harris, compared to 13 Democrats in Trump seats - a reversal of the GOP's fortunes from just a few years ago.
40% : Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images How Trump and his team will determine a candidate's loyalty remains an open question.
38% : Some GOP operatives have informed Trump's team directly that swing-seat Republicans need space from Trump to remain competitive against Democrats and keep his agenda alive, according to people familiar with the discussions.
37% : That stipulation suggests Trump is willing to endorse candidates even if they are not the preferred choices of the party establishment.
35% : " Wren, however, indicated that the MAGA base should focus its efforts on primary challenges in deeply conservative strongholds -- where loyalty to Trump remains an uncompromising litmus test.
35% : Nor is it clear which pots of money Trump is referring to when discussing midterm plans.
34% : Addressing Republican governors last week, Trump echoed what he has told congressional Republicans, vowing to use his war chest to help his party's candidates for governor.
32% : Trump has used another leadership PAC, called Save America, that he established after his White House loss in 2020 to help underwrite his soaring personal legal bills.
29% : But even as he pledges financial support, Trump has not ruled out intervening in primaries to bolster challengers against Republican officeholders he perceives as insufficiently loyal.
29% : While Trump allies like Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA, have threatened primaries for Republicans who don't fall in line, others have urged conservatives to practice political expedience.
29% : This initial push comes as the White House is publicly acknowledging the coalition that pushed Trump over the finish line last year may be less motivated to vote in 2026.
24% : "It'll be challenging, because if you look at the data in Wisconsin, what carries President Trump is a group of voters who only vote when Trump is on the ballot," White House deputy chief of staff James Blair told MAGA supporters during the Conservative Political Action Conference last week.
10% : Republicans facing difficult reelections, including Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, have at times publicly diverged from Trump, usually offering measured criticism or carefully calibrated disagreements.
3% : DeSantis, who is term-limited from running again, criticized Donalds after Trump's endorsement - a byproduct of a public falling out during the presidential primary, when Donalds backed Trump over DeSantis - and has touted the credentials of his wife to carry the torch.

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