The Latest: Trump doesn’t commit to repaying federal funds already spent on controversial ads

A day after President Donald Trump said he would start paying for controversial taxpayer-funded ads with a campaign account, there’s no sign he plans to refund the millions of federal dollars already spent on them. A White House official insisting on anonymity said Trump’s promises don’t mean there’s any reimbursement coming for the $12 million worth of ads that have already aired as part of a $20 million campaign using money Congress appropriated for the Department of Homeland Security. The White House also sought to clarify Trump’s comments that the U.S.

should let Iran attack Los Angeles and San Diego, saying that the president wants to protect the US from nuclear war. Democrats and military veterans say no president should suggest that it’s OK to consider Americans collateral damage. And Trump on Tuesday said he has a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a possible case of plague at a Siberian research institute.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said he would be talking with Putin about the case “very soon.” The Latest: Money alone doesn’t translate into victory Democrat Kamala Harris entered the final stretch of the 2024 campaign with significantly more money than Trump only to lose every critical swing state and the White House. Elon Musk’s $25 million didn’t lift his preferred candidate to a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat. And Tom Steyer didn’t advance in the California governor’s race despite spending $216 million of his own money.

The $1 billion that Republicans have amassed compares with roughly $579 million held by a comparable collection of major Democratic groups. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said his party is facing an “obscene” amount of spending that could swamp them in the midterms. “We’re never going to have as much money as them,” Schumer told the AP.

“I sum up the election in this sentence: Can a massive Republican advantage in money beat a massive Democratic advantage in better candidates and political climate? I bet it can’t.” Republicans are paying for their spending delays The challenge is acute in places like Texas, where Trump will travel on Wednesday for the second time in a week to stump for Republican Ken Paxton’s Senate campaign. The state hasn’t elected a Democratic senator since 1988, yet MAGA Inc.

has spent more than $22 million in the past month, according to the ad tracking…