As he increasingly flirts with a 2028 presidential run, Mark Kelly is winning friends up and down the ballot — if not influencing his Trump administration enemies.

In an effort to help flip the House and Senate in 2026, Kelly has strategically used his star turn as President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s Public Enemy No. 1 to ramp up his giving and fundraising to competitive candidates, party committees and state parties to the tune of nearly $5 million last year, according to figures shared exclusively with Blue Light News.

Since Trump in late November attacked the Arizona senator and other national security Democrats with a Truth Social post accusing them of “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH,” one of the biggest questions in political circles has been just how much Kelly would benefit from Trump fashioning him into a foil. That post has raised Kelly’s profile, boosted further by Hegseth announcing an investigation into Kelly.

While Kelly’s total fundraising numbers aren’t yet available, what he raised and gave away will likely only be a fraction. His moves thus far — and the spotlight that Trump has shone on him — have positioned him to be a key fundraiser for Democrats in 2026, and offer him a platform to build out a 2028 base.

Kelly made more than $1 million in direct contributions and transfers to Democrats across the country, bringing his total direct contributions to more than $1.4 million for 2025. That includes $100,000 each to the DCCC and the DSCC and more than $280,000 to the DNC and state parties combined. As for the Senate, the DSCC vice chair has raised or contributed more than $2.3 million for the committee since the start of last year. He also raised $1 million for other Democrats in the fourth quarter alone by signing emails, text messages and ads.

Kelly also made direct contributions to approximately 30 state parties, including in potential early nominating 2028 states like Iowa, Michigan, South Carolina and New Hampshire. He also made two trips to South Carolina and one trip to Michigan, along with travel to Nevada.

“There’s definitely a message there that resonates with Nevada voters across the board,” Nevada Democrats Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno told Blue Light News, adding that Kelly drew a diverse crowd to the event he attended and praising his contribution to the state party. “So yes, I know there’ll be a number of people that will probably throw their hat in the ring, but he has definitely sparked the interest of some Nevada voters.”

That’s not to mention off-year election trips for Democrats in North Carolina, New Jersey and Virginia. “Senator Kelly is working overtime to support Democrats running in tough races because he knows that taking back the House and Senate is critical to holding Trump accountable and delivering relief from rising costs for American families,” said Jacob Peters, a Kelly spokesperson.

Kelly’s chits make it clear that attention from Trump can be a major boon for a potential 2028 presidential candidate. But more than anything, Kelly’s rising national profile, much like that of California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s last year, shows Trump has a unique ability to elevate foils. Trump has a great deal of power to pare the Democratic field.

“I’m sure that will be something we want him to do” as the 2028 presidential race gets closer, one Republican close to the White House told Playbook, though they noted that it’s still early.

But do Republicans who want to keep the White House think he’s making smart bets by elevating the Newsoms and Kellys of the opposition?

“Newsom is a perfect foil because his record is so horrendous,” said Dave Carney, the veteran New Hampshire GOP political consultant. “He will tell you whatever he thinks you want to hear.” One minute, Carney said, “he sounds like Arnold Schwarzenegger — a moderate Republican. But then he gets beat up from the left, and he, you know, scurries back there.” As for Kelly? “Kelly’s a press thing,” Carney said. “He’s not a real thing.”

There’s at least one candidate who Carney does not want to see Trump elevate: Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

“He’s the first candidate in the history of America that I’m aware of where his vice presidential search in not being picked has helped him,” Carney said, citing Shapiro’s fundraising ability. “There’s a lot of assets he has.”

The drawback for Democrats vying for the nomination: Trump’s ire and retribution could lead to a rolling and unpredictable flavor of the month for some time leading up to 2028. Or, as Carney put it: “The president has the capacity — demonstrated over time — that he can beat the shit out of more than one person at a time.”

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Vice President JD Vance is the Trump administration’s unofficial envoy to Gen Z. But young Trump supporters may not be all that enamored with him as they weigh their 2028 options.

In a focus group of nine young men who supported Trump in 2024, conducted Monday by Longwell Partners and shared with Blue Light News, they showed tepid enthusiasm about the vice president and suggested he is too bridled by the baggage of Trump’s second term.

“I feel like it’s just time for someone new, especially for the Republican Party,” said Alexandre M., a voter in Maryland, who raised concerns about Trumps’s handling of the Epstein files, “because JD Vance was also pushing that as well.”

When the 18- to 24-year-olds were asked who else they would like to see as potential candidates in 2028, they named Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Ohio gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback. When the moderator asked who wants to see Vance as the GOP nominee, just one of the nine raised their hand — and even he later signaled he is still unsure of his support.

Others in the group raised concerns about electability as well as Vance’s changing views.

“I don’t think Vance can win, because I think he’s too connected to the current political establishment in Washington, which I think has a very negative approval rating right now,” said Sam Z., a voter in Minnesota. “If you look at what he was about in 2018, 2019, 2020, and you look at what he’s about now, it’s very, very different. … Somebody younger running in office would be awesome. So that’s the one thing I wouldn’t mind for Vance. But overall, I just don’t think [he] can win. I think he’s kind of flip-flopped on a lot of issues.”

The one voter who said he’d be open to Vance in 2028 said he liked Vance’s experience. “I think because he already is a VP, like he has more experience than most people will, which puts him at an advantage,” said Ruben T., a voter in Georgia.

Vance wasn’t the only topic where these voters split from the traditional party line.

Asked about U.S. support for Israel, five said they felt the U.S. supports Israel too much and four said the right amount. None said too little.

Some mentioned conspiracy theories — like Candace Owens’ assertion that Charlie Kirk was assassinated by the Israeli government — for steering their belief that the U.S. should support Israel less.

“I don’t know how factual some of this stuff is, but after seeing a lot of things after Charlie Kirk’s death and with Candace Owens’ private investigation, I kind of started to notice of, like, Israel was kind of always a big talking point with the Republicans,” said Richard B., a voter in Pennsylvania. “I personally have an issue with it.”

Some of them spoke in free-speech terms, through a humanitarian lens or from an America First perspective. “I just don’t believe that death is justifiable in any way, and of course, Israel is responsible for many deaths,” Matteo R. in Illinois said.

“I think we should be more focused on eliminating problems that we have in our own country, versus one that’s pretty far across the world,” said Sam M., a voter in New Mexico.

That domestic-first approach applied to Trump’s flirtations with Greenland. When asked, “Who would like to see the U.S. buy Greenland?” none raised their hands.

“No other president has ever said that,” said Mukeesh S., in California. “It’s been part of Denmark. I think we should just respect it and leave it, and focus on what’s actually happening inside the nation.”

Dillon, a voter from Rhode Island, added: “I think it’s kind of an unnecessary thing to do right now, and it’s not what our resources could best be used on.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been one of the most vocal critics of President Donald Trump since his return to office last year. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent argues it’s a sign of Newsom’s weakness.

“I think Gavin Newsom may be cracking up, some of these things he’s saying. I think he may be in over his hairdo,” Bessent said in an interview Thursday with Blue Light News’s Dasha Burns for “The Conversation.”

Trump’s top economic adviser said that Newsom, a potential 2028 presidential candidate and longstanding Trump foe, has a “brain the size of a walnut” and that he knows “less about economics than” former Vice President Kamala Harris, which he clarified is “a terrible place to be in.”

The attacks are the latest in a simmering feud between Trump and Newsom, which escalated over the course of the week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Newsom was scheduled to speak at USA House on Wednesday as part of the conference, but his appearance was cancelled at the last minute. Newsom blamed the Trump administration, but an organizer said they decided to focus on programming with business leaders.

At Davos, Newsom met with world leaders, as did Bessent and Trump.

Upon arriving, Newsom urged European leaders not to cave to Trump’s demands over a wide-range of foreign policy issues. In a panel at the conference, the California governor brandished a pair of kneepads bearing Trump’s signature to mock world leaders he feels have been overly accommodating of the president.

Bessent dismissed the “strange things” Newsom has said to attack Trump, including the knee pad stunt and a comment in which Newsom analogized Trump to a dinosaur.

“To say strange things like President Trump is a tyrannosaurus rex, what the hell does that mean? I can say Gavin Newsom is a brontosaurus with a brain the size of a walnut,” Bessent said. “And, if you brought the knee pads, maybe that was for his meeting with Alex Soros.”

Bessent also defended the Trump administration from criticisms that they’re out of touch with the economic concerns of Americans. During a panel in Davos, Bessent said the administration wants to protect the investments of “mom and pop” retirees who may have purchased “5, 10, 12 homes.”

In his defense, Bessent took another opportunity to swipe at Newsom, who he labeled “Patrick Bateman meets Sparkle Beach Ken” during a speech earlier at the conference.

“I think it was a Dem governor, Newsom, who made the comment of being out of touch. What does he know? Like, his father worked for the Getty family,” Bessent said. “I actually think he knows less about economics than Kamala Harris, which is a terrible place to be in.”

The full interview with Bessent will air on “The Conversation.”