MAGA Inc. Dumps $10M Into Texas Senate Race as Trump Opens War Chest

Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. filed to spend $10 million on Texas Senate ads, the first major midterm deployment from a war chest Republicans had been pressing him to use.

According to an FEC filing reported by NBC News on Saturday, the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. super PAC is spending $10 million on television and digital ads in the Texas Senate race, with ads targeting Democratic nominee and state Rep. James Talarico. PBS News, citing the same filing, reports this is the group's first significant spending in a premier general election contest, and that it reflects concern that a once-safe Republican seat may now be in play. The race pits Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Sen. John Cornyn in a May primary runoff after Trump's endorsement, against Talarico.

The deployment came only after weeks of public pressure. NBC News reports that Senate Majority Leader John Thune implored Trump's team to spend in Texas, where he estimated advertising costs $8 million a week, saying it is a race Republicans cannot lose if they want to keep the Senate majority. NBC also reports that four people involved in GOP strategy described frustration with the president's lack of engagement in midterm campaigning, with one operative saying time will tell whether waiting so long was a mistake. On Friday, Trump told reporters he plans to spend 'whatever amount of money necessary' to help Republicans win.

PBS News reports the two ads seek to make taxes the dominant issue at a time when voters are worried about continued inflation, portraying Talarico as seeking broad tax hikes while claiming Paxton would deliver tax breaks for first-time homebuyers and families with children. MAGA Inc. spokesman Alex Pfeiffer said in a statement quoted by PBS that 'High Tax Talarico wants to take money out of Texans' pockets.' Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis pushed back, telling PBS the group is 'lying' about his candidate and pointing to Talarico's vote for what he called the largest property tax cut in Texas history.

Texas has not been a genuine Senate battleground in years, and PBS notes that a Talarico win would be a symbolically powerful sign that the political map is expanding for Democrats. Yet Trump's chosen nominee carries unusual baggage: NBC News reports Paxton was impeached by the Republican-led state House in 2023 on allegations of bribery and abuse of public trust before being acquitted by the state Senate, and that his wife filed for divorce last year, leaving some Texas Republicans doubting his statewide appeal. With MAGA Inc. holding more than $400 million in the bank as of July 31, the size of the investment signals Republicans treat the seat as genuinely at risk.

Trump told reporters, as quoted by PBS News, that he believes he has close to a billion dollars in the super PAC and is allocating roughly $400 to $500 million to boost Republican candidates, insisting the money is his to spend separately from the Republican National Committee. He also pledged to travel and campaign for candidates including Paxton, and floated holding some funds until the 2028 elections if he chooses.

The super PAC news landed during a stretch when Trump kept winning in Washington as well. AP News reports the Supreme Court allowed the White House to continue construction on Trump's roughly $400 million White House ballroom, while the Citizen Times published a guest opinion arguing that Trump's success rate on the emergency 'shadow docket' exceeds 90% and that the ballroom ruling avoided deciding the project's legality. The writer, Brad Gutierrez, contends Chief Justice Roberts' dissent showed the project lacks congressional authorization.