Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would begin airing television advertisements “over the next two days” and pledged to counterpunch his rivals by several multiples if they attack him on the air first.
“Dollar for dollar, we’re going to go after them. We have more money than anybody else by a factor of about a thousand,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night. “Actually, we’re going to start some ads, I think, over the next two days. Certainly in Iowa we’re going to start ads and in New Hampshire, and I think in South Carolina, too.”
Trump’s ads would be a major escalation in his campaign for the White House, which has thrived on earned media attention and hasn’t needed to pay for exposure on TV. Trump said he had planned to spend $25 million on television ads, but no longer felt the need to given his high poll numbers — a thriftiness that made him “feel guilty.”
But should Republican candidates attack him first, he will not hesitate to turn up the volume on television.
“If they hit me, I will hit them at least as hard, and maybe double and triple as hard,” he said. “I think the negative ads are going to hurt the Republicans much more so than its going to hurt me.”