Trump campaign to spend $140 million on TV, digital advertisements

Washington: Donald Trump’s campaign is planning for what it says will amount to $140 million worth of advertising from now until Election Day. The total, if executed, would include $100 million in television airtime and $40 million worth of digital ads, according to senior communications adviser Jason Miller. The plan represents a dramatic expansion for the billionaire businessman, who has repeatedly bragged in recent weeks about how much less he’s spent than Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. [caption id=“attachment_2983126” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Donald Trump. AP[/caption] Through this week, the Trump campaign has spent just $22 million on ads during the general election, according to Kantar Media’s political advertising tracker. That’s dramatically less than Clinton, who has spent more than $140 million on general election ads so far. The Trump campaign is targeting key battleground states like Florida, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, along with Michigan, Maine, New Mexico, Wisconsin and others. Miller says about $40 million of the ads will play on national TV. Clinton’s ad reservations going forward total about $11 million per week, but she can add to those buys at any time. The new Trump plan would average to about $16 million per week; Miller says the first $15 million ad buy was made Friday. The new spending represents a total higher than the campaign’s current cash-on-hand. Trump’s campaign had about $50 million in the bank as of 1 September, but in a news release earlier this month the campaign said it had $97 million in cash when including his joint accounts with Republican Party allies. The campaign also has continued to experience strong fundraising online this month, campaign aides said. Miller said its upcoming national television ads would focus on Trump’s key campaign themes, like the economy and law and order. The local ads, however, are expected to focus on ways Trump’s policies might benefit local communities and families, Miller said.