Elections

Trump plans to ‘spend big’ on advertising in primary states

By Lesley Clark

lclark@mcclatchydc.com

December 29, 2015 11:40 AM

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump addresses an audience during a campaign event Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, in Nashua, N.H. Steven Senne AP
WASHINGTON

Donald Trump – who has remained atop the Republican presidential primary polls despite little advertising – plans to ramp it up in the early primary states as voting nears.

Trump tweeted Tuesday morning that his presidential campaign is “$35,000,000 under budget,” boasting that he’s in “first place,” even though he’s “spent very little.” That’s about to change, he said, with plans to “spend big” in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

He also added a slap at former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who has raised more money than most of his rivals, but finds himself trailing many of them.

December 29, 2015
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Trump’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for details, but the billionaire real estate magnate on Monday night told the audience at a rally in New Hampshire that he planned to “spend a lot of money over the next four weeks.

“We just don't want to take any chances, we're too close.”

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The ad blitz could cost at least $2 million a week, and “possibly several times that,” FOX News reported. Citing campaign sources, Fox said Trump is prepared to spend as $100 million for advertising overall. His campaign has spent less than $20,000 on radio spots.

The uptick in spending comes as Trump finds himself neck-and-neck in the polls with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and as several news outlets have questioned whether Trump has established the grass-roots organizing apparatus that can get voters to the caucuses in Iowa.

Lesley Clark: 202-383-6054, @lesleyclark