President Donald Trump is setting aside part of his $400 million political war chest to cover his family’s legal bills, including those of his 20-year-old son, Barron, in case Democrats capture Congress in the Nov. 3, 2026, midterm elections, according to a report.
His MAGA Inc. super PAC raised the hundreds of millions of dollars behind that sum, and the report said a share of it is being held back to pay for legal defense if Democrats retake the House and possibly the Senate.
The preparations extend across the family, including First Lady Melania Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner, over the president’s remaining two years in office.
Democrats will likely open impeachment hearings should they win back the Capitol, something Trump, 80, has long accepted. The Senate acquitted him both times he was impeached during his first term.
Trump is said to be angry, though not surprised, by the threats aimed at his relatives. He and his allies have been readying the family for two years of investigations.
Barron Trump in the Spotlight
In July 2025, Rep. Yassamin Ansari, D-Ariz., said Barron should testify before Congress about his relationship with Andrew Tate, a manosphere figure suspected of rape and sex trafficking. Reports described Barron as an admirer of Tate who spoke with him by phone during a suit fitting.
Ansari told the MeidasTouch podcast that the president’s youngest son is an adult with real influence inside his father’s orbit. “So he needs to be held accountable if he has committed any wrongdoing,” she said.
An earlier effort to put Barron under oath went nowhere in the Republican-controlled House. Barron holds a founding role in World Liberty Financial, the Trump cryptocurrency venture, alongside his half-brothers Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
What Democrats Would Pursue
Democrats are expected to aim first at participants in deals brokered by Trump family members and at corporate donors to the president’s ballroom. Control of either the House or the Senate would give them subpoena power and funding for investigative staff, and probes could begin as early as February 2027.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., told reporters on Sept. 17: “We’re going to hold the crooks accountable, beginning on day one.”
Family dealmaking in crypto, drones, artificial intelligence and prediction markets added an estimated $2.2 billion to Trump’s personal wealth across two years.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., have singled out Trump-linked crypto firms and 1789 Capital, Donald Trump Jr.’s venture capital firm. Both cautioned that no definitive list of targets exists yet.
Raskin says Kushner has not answered two letters about Affinity Partners’ dealings with Middle East governments and oil monarchies while he also represents the United States in diplomatic negotiations. A fund led by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman put $2 billion into the private equity firm six months after Kushner left office in January 2021.
Another thread runs through Trump Jr.’s Bahamas wedding, heavily funded by a Russian oligarch with close ties to Vladimir Putin. Freshman Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, called for an investigation into it.
Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is focused on a proposed sale of a portion of Yosemite National Park to a private developer with ties to Republican campaign committees. Oil and gas companies won tax breaks, subsidies and looser environmental rules after Trump asked the industry for $1 billion in donations during his 2024 campaign, according to a report released by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and other Democrats put the question to Amazon President and CEO Andy Jassy in a letter in March: was the $75 million documentary about Melania Trump a losing bet at the box office, a bribe, or part of a pay-to-play arrangement with the administration?
Even Kai Trump, the president’s 19-year-old granddaughter, could draw scrutiny after she used White House grounds to promote her eponymous clothing line.
The White House Pushes Back
Democrats have nothing to run on and train their fire on the president, his Cabinet and his relatives instead of offering solutions for voters, a White House official told the Daily Mail, describing the approach as embarrassing.
Spokeswoman Lauren Bis denounced the investigations Democrats have aimed at Trump over the past decade. In a statement, spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the party has no agenda to improve Americans’ lives and only plans to obstruct and target the president’s program.
Conservative lawyer Mike Davis said he expects Democrats to go after every person in Trump’s orbit, his relatives above all, and he predicted the party will pay a political price for it.
Companies Brace for Subpoenas
Companies tied to Trump and his family are hiring lawyers to run internal audits and retaining crisis communications firms for public outreach.
Ashley Callen, a lawyer at Jenner & Block and a former general counsel to House Speaker Mike Johnson, said Democrats will not be patient, will expect documents quickly and will not tolerate stalling.
Republicans have already faulted Trump for not spending more of the $400 million to boost GOP candidates in the midterms. Under the plan described in the report, part of that money is being held in reserve for lawyers instead.
