Trump's Political Machine Frays as Voters Face High Costs

Republican strategists are fighting over a $200 million campaign operation as voters raise concerns about high prices and dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy. Trump blames senior aides and political operatives for a faltering midterm strategy, while questioning campaign spending, redistricting and candidate choices he helped shape.

Polls suggest Democrats will win the House of Representatives, while the Senate remains too close to call. Losing the House would hamper Trump’s legislative agenda and give Democrats subpoena power to investigate his administration. The contest centers on control of Congress, but party leaders, campaign operatives and wealthy political organizations are making the decisions and directing the spending.

A costly machine, and a blame game

Public records show MAGA Inc., the super PAC run by longtime Trump aide James Blair, has spent $200 million so far. One source said it remained unclear whether Trump would approve more spending before the election. Trump has asked why that spending hasn’t improved Republican polling numbers, while advisers point fingers at one another. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles has pointed to Blair, and Blair has faulted the White House legislative affairs team, one person said. “What’s really happening is a circular firing squad,” that person said.

Two sources said Trump pressed aides in the past week to explain why the redistricting effort he personally pushed hadn’t produced clearer Republican gains. Texas is a particular worry. Republicans redrew the state’s congressional map to gain seats, relying in part on Hispanic voters turning out as they did in the 2024 election. Polls suggest that support may be difficult to repeat amid cost-of-living concerns and dissatisfaction with Trump’s handling of the economy.

Some Republicans fear the new boundaries could leave incumbents more vulnerable instead of giving the party an advantage. “The redistricting diced up the Trump voters too much,” one source said. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott and Senate candidate Ken Paxton have rarely appeared together publicly this fall, and they don’t plan to campaign together in the final weeks before Election Day, NBC News reported.

Trump’s frustrations became public after Blair and Chris LaCivita, who co-managed Trump’s 2024 campaign, traveled in early October to Republika Srpska, a self-governing region of Bosnia. The New York Times reported that the men received substantial payments to advise the regional government ahead of local elections. Three people said senior White House officials questioned why Blair was taking lucrative overseas work when he was supposed to oversee the final stretch of the Republican campaign. One person said Wiles approved the trip without informing Trump; two people said Trump’s larger concern was that Blair’s outside work had distracted him from his political responsibilities.

Voters' concerns meet campaign promises

The cost-of-living squeeze also surfaced at a Michigan town hall, where Vice President JD Vance responded to a woman who said her small business was struggling. “I’ll be the first person to tell you that just as this country wasn’t broken in one presidential term, it’s gonna take more than 18 months to fix things and turn them around,” he said. Polls showed most Americans dissatisfied with the economy and frustrated with inflation, with a majority blaming the Trump administration’s policies.

Trump gave his administration an “A+” on the economy. Asked about that assessment by “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil, Vance said the president was referring to new investments, then added that factories had to be built before workers could be employed. “I think what we’re doing is, we’re turning the ship around,” Vance said.

Democratic candidates also rely on campaign money and party figures. In Michigan, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gave $1 million to help Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, and a source said Sen. Bernie Sanders transferred $250,000. Ocasio-Cortez’s donation went to the Abdul for Michigan Victory Fund, a coordinated effort involving El-Sayed’s campaign, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee. Sanders’ transfer came amid pressure within the Democratic Party for him to use his campaign funds in critical Senate races; Democrats had asked him to help in Michigan, where Republicans had heavily outspent the party on the airwaves.

Pennsylvania is a bellwether. Democrats are targeting four House districts that together could give them a congressional majority, The New York Times reported. The races include a Republican defending suburban ground, Democrats seeking to reclaim fast-growing Hispanic areas that shifted right, and white working-class voters in industrial towns and rural areas who have lost patience with Trump’s promises. “Pennsylvania runs the whole gamut of the midterms in four races,” said Jesse Ferguson, a national Democratic strategist involved in House elections.

Trump defended Wiles on Friday, calling her “smart” and “tough” and saying she would remain in her job. White House spokesman Davis Ingle rejected the sources’ characterization as “armchair experts peddling their baseless speculation.” Blair called the criticism “ridiculous, and counterproductive,” adding, “President Trump and me are focused on helping Republicans win in November.”