Trump delivers $10 million to Ken Paxton in first major contribution of midterms

September 5, 2026 / 3:29 PM EDT / CBS News

President Trump has delivered his first major campaign contribution of the midterms to Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton. The president is donating $10 million from his MAGA Inc. super PAC to help Paxton, the current Texas attorney general, who is locked in a surprisingly tight race with Democrat James Talarico.

The donation includes $5 million to run negative ads against Talarico and $5 million to run positive ads for Paxton, according to a Federal Election Commission filing on Saturday. Both donations are to Del Ray Media Inc., a political media operation, for both television and digital advertising.

Mr. Trump's MAGA Inc. committee holds $400 million but had yet to offer a single major donation this midterm cycle.

Securing American Greatness, a nonprofit with ties to Mr. Trump's super PAC, MAGA Inc., unveiled its first ad to air nationwide. But the ad is focused on the president instead of local congressional candidates, causing some consternation among candidates that the focus of the spending would be on promoting Mr. Trump, even though he's not actually on the ballot.

"I've raised a lot, and nobody knows what it is, but I will tell…

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/entertainment/