President Trump is planning to form a leadership political action committee, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The PAC would allow Trump to funnel unlimited political donations of up to $5,000 each toward various political candidates, and could be used by the president to retain a level of power in the Republican Party even after losing the presidency to Joe Biden.
“The president always planned to do this, win or lose, so he can support candidates and issues he cares about, such as combating voter fraud., Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told the Times.
Major news networks including the Associated Press, Fox News, CNN, and NBC have projected that Biden will win the electoral college, although Trump has refused to concede the election and claimed widespread “voter fraud” skewed the results toward Biden. Trump could announce plans to form the new PAC as early as this week.
“President Trump is not going anywhere anytime soon,” Republican strategist Matt Gorman commented. “He’s going to insert himself in the national debate in a way that’s unlike any of his predecessors.”
The president has raised the possibility that he will run for president again in 2024, Axios reported on Monday. Aides for other prospective 2024 candidates are reportedly concerned that an additional Trump campaign could draw significant resources away from their own efforts.
While Trump has lost the presidency, Republicans could hold onto their Senate majority pending the outcome of two Georgia runoffs, and the party gained a number of House seats. The simultaneous rejection of Trump, while Republicans gained ground in the House and are on track to hold their Senate majority, has set off a flurry of election postmortems and speculation about the party’s future.