Donald Trump campaign planning ‘major’ TV blitz

Donald Trump has received plenty of free publicity from the media for his 2016 presidential bid, but the Republican frontrunner’s campaign is reportedly about to open the billionaire’s war chest for a major TV ad blitz to bolster his candidacy ahead of the Iowa caucuses.

According to Fox News, the “initial wave of ads” — which could cost upwards of $2m (€1.8m) a week — will focus on Trump’s “vision and his stance on key issues … but that could change if any GOP rivals target him with negative commercials.”

This month, Right to Rise, the super-PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s campaign, made a $3m ad buy for a 30-second spot aimed at Trump, proclaiming the former Florida governor “one candidate tough enough to take on the bully”.

The TV ad, which ran in Iowa and New Hampshire, used a testy exchange between the Republican hopefuls during the recent GOP debate in Las Vegas.

“Donald, you’re not going to be able to insult your way to the presidency,” Bush told Trump.

The real-estate mogul subsequently fired back on Twitter, on television and at his campaign rallies, but has yet to use his vast fortune to buy an attack ad targeting Bush, who is lagging far behind in most national polls.

Last month, the Trump campaign spent a scant $300,000 on a series of radio ads that ran in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. None called out Trump’s rivals by name.

“Our country is in deep trouble,” Trump said in one spot.

“Because, let’s face it, politicians are all talk, no action.”

In another, a woman promises Trump will “stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking by building a wall on our southern border,” “brutally and quickly cut off the head of ISIS” and “make our military so strong, no country will ever mess with us.”

The Trump campaign originally budgeted $25m for advertising during the third quarter of this year, according to the report, but scrapped those plans as the brash billionaire continued to dominate each news cycle with controversial comments.

For example, Trump appeared on Fox News for 22 hours and 46 minutes from May 1 to December 15 — more than twice the air time of any other candidate, according to Media Matters.