In early September, President Donald Trump told reporters that his super PAC, MAGA Inc., had close to $1 billion — which he described as “my money.”
A campaign finance watchdog says that statement, among others Trump has made in the past few months asserting personal control of the super PAC, violated federal law, according to a new complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission this week.
Federal officeholders are prohibited from soliciting, directing or spending funds controlled by outside groups like MAGA Inc., which can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money. The Campaign Legal Center pointed to Trump’s previous comments in their filing, as well as private and public meetings involving PAC spending and fundraising efforts.
“Trump’s public statements are thus a remarkable admission of a serious campaign finance violation,” Campaign Legal Center wrote in the complaint, which was first reported by The New York Times.
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MAGA Inc. spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer called the complaint “frivolous” in a statement to The Washington Sun and dismissed Campaign Legal Center’s “smears” against the Trump administration.
“MAGA Inc. fully complies with the law,” Pfeiffer said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment .
Trump has repeatedly staked his claim to control of the super PAC’s funds. In addition to his Oval Office comments Sept. 4, the president corrected Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman in August when Sherman characterized MAGA Inc. as being controlled by Trump’s allies during a sit-down interview.
“Not my allies, I control it,” the president interjected.
A couple weeks after that, on Aug. 21, Trump told reporters before boarding Air Force One that he would pour “a lot” of MAGA Inc. money into the midterms.
“I’ll be spending a lot of that money for — and my own money — but I’ll be spending a lot
of that money for candidates that I think are good, Republican candidates,” Trump said.
The FEC does not have enough commissioners to conduct an investigation or otherwise act on the complaint.
While Trump nominated two Republicans in February, a Senate committee has not scheduled a hearing to advance the commissioner candidates — and it is unlikely to do so before the 2026 election.
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