The 5 people keeping Trump alive as infuriated voters run for the exit

Donald Trump is facing a striking political divide: The New Republic says voters across several major groups are turning against him while some of America's richest people are pouring huge sums into Republican campaigns. The split has put billionaire donors at the centre of the 2026 midterm money race.

According to The New Republic senior editor Alex Shephard, two-thirds of Latino voters now disapprove of Trump's presidency, while he has a 44-point deficit among young voters. Both groups were important parts of Trump's 2024 coalition.

The backlash comes as Americans confront rising prices, controversy over Trump's efforts to reshape Washington and anxiety surrounding the war in Iran. Even Vice President JD Vance has appealed to voters to give Republicans another chance, according to the article.

Yet while parts of the electorate are souring on Trump, billionaire donors are moving in the opposite direction. A Financial Times analysis found that more than one-third of the $2.8 billion raised during the current 2025-26 election cycle came from the 20 biggest mega-donors, with 16 of them putting money into Republican campaigns.

The scale of the money has made the donor landscape particularly striking. The Financial Times described the Republican tilt among the biggest donors as unusually pronounced, with money flowing through campaigns and Super PACs backing candidates in races across the country.

Silicon Valley is at the heart of the shift. Shephard argues that fears over regulation, antitrust scrutiny and government intervention have pushed wealthy technology figures closer to Trump's Republican Party, particularly around artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.

Elon Musk is one of the biggest names in the spending spree. The tech billionaire is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to support Republicans, despite his highly publicised break with Trump last year. His America PAC has also begun spending in competitive House and Senate races during the 2026 cycle.

Greg Brockman, OpenAI's co-founder and president, and his wife Anna gave $25 million to the pro-Trump MAGA Inc. super PAC in September 2025. Brockman has said his political giving is connected to his support for OpenAI's mission and the development of AI.

Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, along with their spouses, have given $18 million, according to the Financial Times figures cited by Shephard. Crypto entrepreneurs Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have donated about $11 million.

The crypto industry is also building a formidable political war chest. Fairshake, a crypto-focused Super PAC, has raised more than $99 million from individual contributions, with major backing including Coinbase, Ripple and Andreessen Horowitz.

For these donors, the stakes extend beyond personalities and party labels. Shephard argues that technology, cryptocurrency and gambling interests are seeking political candidates who will resist tighter regulation, while Democrats have become associated with greater scrutiny of those industries.

AI has become a particularly explosive issue. Public concern over the technology's potential harms and the rapid expansion of data centres is growing, while technology companies face antitrust scrutiny from both parties, with much of the serious inquiry coming from Democrats, according to Shephard.

The political money is therefore arriving as the administration faces pressure on several fronts. The New Republic says Trump has side-lined pro-regulation voices in his own party while technology interests have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to Republican-aligned political efforts and Trump's projects.

The wider funding picture is changing too. The Financial Times found that mega-donors are intervening heavily in primary races, where relatively small numbers of voters can determine which candidates reach Congress. Stanford political scientist Adam Bonica said wealthy donors can have a "pretty sizeable effect" in primaries.

But the money does not automatically settle the political argument. Recent polling has shown significant dissatisfaction with Trump, including low approval ratings and concern over economic conditions, while the Republican Party faces a difficult political environment heading towards November's midterms.

That leaves a dramatic contrast at the heart of the 2026 campaign. While billionaire donors are deploying vast resources behind Republican candidates and causes linked to Trump, the voter groups highlighted by Shephard are showing substantial dissatisfaction with the president.

As the midterms approach, the battle will now play out on two fronts: the mood of voters and the financial power of the country's wealthiest political donors. With billions already raised and major technology and crypto interests deeply involved, the influence of billionaire money will remain a central issue throughout the campaign.

The 5 people keeping Trump alive as infuriated voters run for the exits