Trump delivers $10 million to Ken Paxton

… {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/","name":"CBS News","foundingDate":"1927-09-18","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/CBSNews\/","https:\/\/instagram.com\/cbsnews\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/CBSNews","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/CBSNews","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/CBS_News"],"logo":[{"@type":"ImageObject","height":300,"width":300,"url":["https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/assets\/show\/cbsn\/logo-square-300x300.png"]}],"url":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/","description":"CBS News is a trusted source for the latest in politics, U.S. and world news. The network is home to award-winning broadcasts CBS Mornings, CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes, CBS Sunday Morning, 48 Hours and Face the Nation.","contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","telephone":"+1-888-369-4762","contactType":"customer service"},"address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"524 w 57th St.","addressLocality":"New York City","addressRegion":"New York","postalCode":"10019","addressCountry":"US"},"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/cbs-news-publishing-principles\/"} </script> <script type="application/ld+json"> {"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","articleBody":"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\u0027s 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\u0027s 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\u0027s not actually on the ballot.\"I\u0027ve raised a lot, and nobody knows what it is, but I will tell you it\u0027s about $850 million,\" Mr. Trump said before boarding Air Force One to fly to South Carolina on Aug. 21. \"I\u0027ll be spending a lot of that money for \u2014 and my own money \u2014 but I\u0027ll be spending a lot of that money for candidates that I think are good, Republican candidates.\"The only prior donation came in South Carolina. MAGA Inc. donated $827,000 to Sen. Darline Graham\u0027s campaign. Until Graham\u0027s Senate bid, MAGA Inc. had spent only about $18,000 in 2026 on a midterm race. The super PAC spent about $1.7 million last year, and by the end of the second quarter, it had raised $401 million.Graham is fighting to be reelected for a full term after taking the Senate seat held by her brother, Lindsey Graham, after his death in July.\"Pretend, please, that I\u0027m on the ballot,\" the president said Aug. 21 at a rally for Graham in South Carolina. \"Come and vote. It\u0027s so important.\"\u00a0Paxton has faced regular criticism during his years in office, though he\u0027s still popular among Republicans. He was polling at a 61% approval rate among Republicans in August, according to polling by The Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.Paxton survived an impeachment trial in 2023 over allegations of bribery, dereliction of duty and disregard of official duties. However, during the trial it emerged that Paxton was having an affair, and his wife, a state senator, later filed for divorce.Talarico is running neck-and-neck with Paxton in most polling even though Texas hasn\u0027t had a Democratic senator in 33 years. He\u0027s endured growing criticism from Mr. Trump in recent weeks. Earlier this week, the president came up with a new nickname for the Senate candidate.\"The name happens to be Tala-freako because he is one of the worst candidates I have ever seen,\" Mr. Trump said.Talarico responded by selling T-shirts with the nickname emblazoned on them.","dateModified":"2026-09-05T17:09:07-0400","articleSection":["Politics"],"author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Osborne","url":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/team\/mark-osborne\/"}],"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/trump-10-million-ken-paxton-first-major-contribution-midterms\/","inLanguage ":"en","name":"Trump delivers $10 million to Ken Paxton in first major contribution of midterms","headline":"Trump delivers $10 million to Ken Paxton in first major contribution of midterms","description":"President Trump\u0027s MAGA Inc. super PAC had previously only given one donation this midterm cycle: about $800,000 to Darline Graham.","isAccessibleForFree":true},"headline":"Trump delivers $10 million to Ken Paxton in first major contribution of midterms","description":"President Trump\u0027s MAGA Inc. super PAC had previously only given one donation this midterm cycle: about $800,000 to Darline Graham.","url":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/trump-10-million-ken-paxton-first-major-contribution-midterms\/","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","height":630,"width":1200,"url":"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/05\/8243372d-950c-47d3-8d08-3c359903b15a\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/0cce39be7fc8cf0c7a85209897fb2497\/gettyimages-2277314604.jpg"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com\/hub\/i\/r\/2026\/09\/05\/8243372d-950c-47d3-8d08-3c359903b15a\/thumbnail\/1200x630\/0cce39be7fc8cf0c7a85209897fb2497\/gettyimages-2277314604.jpg","keywords":["Donald Trump","James Talarico","Ken Paxton"],"datePublished":"2026-09-05T15:29:40-0400","publisher":{"@type":"NewsMediaOrganization","@id":"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/","name":"CBS News"}} …