The source said the billionaire and former New York mayor's funding of a $100 million, digital, anti-Trump ad series is "a step toward running for Mike, not a step away from running," and that “he is actively preparing."
The ad campaign, reported by the New York Times, is aimed at helping whoever wins the Democratic nomination by beginning general election spending now to target Trump early in the battleground states, with the first of the ads expected to be live by Monday.
The digital ads, aimed at Trump personally, initially are focusing on voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan — three states where Trump's narrow victories in 2016 cost Hillary Clinton the presidency — and in Arizona, which Bloomberg considers as a state that Democrats could potentially win. The ads then could expand to other states.
According to the Times, the ad campaign will make Bloomberg the "single biggest spender in the presidential race" — whether or not he gets in himself. Spending is currently led by the Trump campaign, while the Republican National Committee was reported as having $156 million in cash on hand last month.