MAGA Inc. or "Make America Great Again Inc." (founded September 23, 2022) is an American
Super PAC that supports former US president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
.
As a Super PAC it can raise unlimited money for campaigns and spend it freely to support Trump but it is barred from coordinating directly with presidential campaigns.
History
2022
A Statement of Organization was filed with the
Federal Election Commission on September 23, 2022, for Make America Great Again Inc. as an independent expenditure-only political committee (
Super PAC) that is supporting former US president
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, and is located in
Alexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...
.
Distinct from Trump's existing
Save America leadership PAC which had served as his chief fundraising vehicle, as a Super PAC it can raise unlimited money for campaigns and spend it freely to support him.
But it is barred from coordinating directly with campaigns.
Taylor Budowich, a 26-year-old former aide of Trump, was named the group's executive director.
In June 2023, Budowich testified before a federal
grand jury
A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...
in Miami as part of special counsel
Jack Smith’s
investigation into Trump's handling of classified documents.
Other staff of the Super PAC are former Trump campaign aide
Steven Cheung (communications director; who worked on Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns, is a former
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
assistant communications director, and a former
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA ...
communications executive), longtime Trump pollster
Tony Fabrizio (running polling operations); veteran GOP operative
Chris LaCivita
Christopher Joseph LaCivita (born 1966) is an American political consultant, and partner in FP1 Strategies, a national public-affairs and campaign firm. LaCivita is currently a senior advisor to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
LaCivit ...
(chief strategist; former
Swift Vets lead operator); and Sergio Gor (former campaign adviser and the publisher of Trump's post-presidential book ''A Journey Together'', as a senior adviser).
Karoline Leavitt, who ran for New Hampshire's 1st District l in the
, is the spokeswoman for MAGA Inc. Alex Pfeiffer, a former producer for
Fox News
The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
’
Tucker Carlson, will also join the operation.
In October 2022, Save America transferred $20 million to MAGA Inc.
In November 2022, the campaign finance watchdog
Campaign Legal Center (CLC) filed a complaint with the
Federal Election Commission (FEC), alleging that the transfer was inappropriate inasmuch as Trump was already a presidential candidate when he made the transfer. In May 2023, NRDC Action Fund affiliated Super-PAC, NRDC Action Votes, joined CLC in a supplemental complaint alleging that former Trump and Save America violated the
Federal Election Campaign Act
The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, , ''et seq.'') is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on creating limits for campaign spending on communicatio ...
(FECA), specifically, the provisions that prohibit federal election candidates from utilizing “
soft money
The financing of electoral campaigns in the United States happens at the federal, state, and local levels by contributions from individuals, corporations, political action committees, and sometimes the government. Campaign spending has risen ...
", which refers to money that is not adherent to contribution limits, source prohibitions, or reporting requirements for election candidates.
Also that month, businessman
Timothy Mellon
Timothy Mellon (born July 22, 1942) is an American businessman, and the chairman and majority owner of Pan Am Systems, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based transportation holding company. He is a grandson of Andrew W. Mellon and an heir to the Mell ...
contributed $1.5 million to MAGA Inc. Businessman
Andrew Beal
Daniel Andrew Beal (born November 29, 1952) is an American banker, businessman, investor, and amateur mathematician. He is a Dallas-based businessman who accumulated wealth in real estate and banking. Born and reared in Lansing, Michigan, Beal i ...
donated $500,000 to the Super PAC.
Trump's Save America PAC transferred $60 million to MAGA Inc in 2022.
MAGA Inc. reported $54 million in cash on hand at the end of 2022. MAGA Inc. spent money opposing some political candidates in 2022 (most notably $3.4 million opposing
Raphael Warnock
Raphael Gamaliel Warnock ( ; born July 23, 1969) is an American Baptist pastor and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he assumed office on January 20, 2021.
Since 20 ...
who won, 3.4 million opposing
John Fetterman who won, and $3.0 million opposing
Mark Kelly
Mark Edward Kelly (born February 21, 1964) is an American politician, former astronaut, and United States Navy captain who has served as the junior United States senator from Arizona since 2020. A member of the Democratic Party, he was electe ...
who won), and supporting some other political candidates (most notably $0.7 million supporting
Blake Masters
Blake Gates Masters (born August 5, 1986) is an American venture capitalist and political candidate. Frequently referred to as a protégé of businessman Peter Thiel,
Sources that call Masters a protégé of Thiel include:
*
*
*
*
Masters c ...
who lost, $0.09 million supporting
Adam Laxalt
Adam Paul Laxalt (; born August 31, 1978) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 33rd Nevada Attorney General from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was an unsuccessful candidate for governor of Nevada in 2018 ...
who lost, and $0.08 supporting
Mehmet Oz
Mehmet Cengiz Öz (; born June 11, 1960), known professionally as Dr. Oz (), is an Turkish American former professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Columbia University, television presenter, author and former political candidate.
The son of Tur ...
who lost).
2023
In June 2023, MAGA Inc filed a 15-page complaint with the
Florida Commission on Ethics accusing Florida governor
Ron DeSantis of violating federal and state campaign finance and ethics rules by running a shadow campaign for president.
By June 30, 2023, MAGA Inc had spent more than $23 million in 2023, almost entirely on ads attacking Ron DeSantis.
In July 2023,
Alina Habba joined the PAC as legal spokesperson and general counsel.
MAGA Inc. gave back more than $12 million to Trump's Save America PAC in the first half of 2023, after Save America requested a refund; that accounted for one-third of MAGA Inc.’s spending over that time period.
It spent $22 million on buying TV ads in support of Trump. MAGA Inc. spent more than it raised in the first six months of the year, raising $14.6 million.
It reported $30.8 million in its account as of June 30; at the same time, the PAC of Ron DeSantis had $96.8 million in cash on hand, and the PAC of Nikki Haley had $17.1 million in cash on hand.
Its top donors over the first six months of 2023 were
Scientologist Patricia Duggan ($5 million) and casino owner
Phil Ruffin
Phillip Gene Ruffin (born March 14, 1935) is an American businessman. He owns the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino and Circus Circus Las Vegas, Circus Circus Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, in addition to a number of other enterprises including hot ...
($2 million).
Woody Johnson
Robert Wood Johnson IV (born April 12, 1947) is an American businessman who was United States ambassador to the United Kingdom from 2017 to 2021. He is a great-grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, and a billionaire heir to the Johnson & Johnson pha ...
(U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom under Trump) and
Charles Kushner
Charles Kushner (born May 16, 1954) is an American real estate developer, former federal inmate, and disbarred former attorney. He founded Kushner Companies in 1985.
In 2005, he was convicted of illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion, and ...
(Trump's son-in-law's father, whom Trump pardoned) both gave $1 million.
2024
On May 31, 2024,
Timothy Mellon
Timothy Mellon (born July 22, 1942) is an American businessman, and the chairman and majority owner of Pan Am Systems, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire-based transportation holding company. He is a grandson of Andrew W. Mellon and an heir to the Mell ...
, a billionaire banking heir, gave $50 million to the PAC.
See also
*
Great America PAC
Great America PAC is a Super PAC that supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. It was founded in 2016 by Eric Beach, a political strategist and veteran of presidential campaigns. Beach soon brought on Ed Rollins, a long time Re ...
*
Make America Great Again
"Make America Great Again" or MAGA is an American political slogan popularized by Donald Trump in his successful 2016 presidential campaign. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in ...
References
{{reflist
Conservative political advocacy groups in the United States
Lobbying organizations in the United States
Organizations based in Alexandria, Virginia
Political career of Donald Trump
Political organizations
Trumpism
United States political action committees
2022 establishments in Virginia