New ad puts President Donald Trump center stage in GOP primary race

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Jun 17, 2026

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LANSING, Mich. — A TV ad released Wednesday by a group that wants U.S. Rep. John James to be Michigan's next governor touted the Republican congressman's backing of President Donald Trump.

The commercial from Mission Michigan came about seven weeks before the Aug. 4 primary election. According to the organization, it will spend more than $1 million to make sure voters see it in the coming days.

The 30-second ad described James of Shelby Township as the only Republican candidate for governor "to stand with Trump from the start," featured images of James with Trump and criticized his top primary opponents' past approaches to the GOP president.

"During the toughest times when it matters most, who is the loyal patriot that has stood and will stand for our conservative values and with President Trump?" said Joanna Burgos, chief strategist for Mission Michigan. “Pennywise Perry Johnson spent $30 million trying to beat him. Mike Cox couldn’t be bothered to endorse him.

"John James was with Trump from day one."

Trump has not endorsed in Michigan's Republican primary for governor yet. And the campaigns of Johnson, a businessman from Bloomfield Hills, and Cox, a former attorney general from Livonia, both took issue with the new ad on Wednesday.

While the commercial says Cox didn't endorse Trump in 2016, 2020 or 2024, Cox said he regularly contributed to Trump's campaigns.

"That is silly," Cox said of the Mission Michigan ad. "I was not in office. I was Trump's lawyer in 2024 and gave him money every time he ran."

Federal campaign finance disclosures showed a series of contributions by Cox to groups that backed Trump in 2020 and 2024.

Meanwhile, the new ad also highlighted the fact that Johnson ran against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

"I'm Trump without the baggage," Johnson says in a video clip featured in the ad.

The ad said Johnson spent $30 million running against Trump. Federal fundraising disclosures showed Johnson's presidential campaign spent about $15 million.

Brian Szmytke, Johnson's campaign spokesman, said Trump wanted James to run for reelection in his battleground U.S. House seat instead of for governor.

"Perry Johnson was the only candidate invited to speak in support of President Trump at the national convention after helping bring federal spending to the forefront in 2024 with his book Two Cents to Save America," Szmytke said.

Johnson spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024 in Milwaukee, where he said, on stage, that Trump had "the heart of a lion" and "the brain of a genius."

Mission Michigan has reported raising about $6 million so far. Its top contributors have been Daniel and Pamella DeVos, who combined to chip in $5 million.

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