Donald Trump is hitting the airwaves.
On Thursday, Trump’s campaign announced its purchase of slots for 60-second radio ads that will air in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. The ads, “valued at $300,000,” will begin airing tomorrow and run until the end of the month. “This ad buy is the first time the campaign has spent money on advertising,” the campaign said in a statement.
The ads, one narrated by a woman and the other by Trump, do not attack Trump’s rivals—at least not by name. Instead, they capitalize on Trump’s status as a political outsider. “Donald Trump is running for president because politicians are all talk and no action. They will never make our country great again,” the woman says. “Our country is in deep trouble because let’s face it, politicians are all talk and no action,” Trump says in the second ad. The spots also highlight several of Trump’s regular talking points, like building a wall on the border and negotiating the “greatest trade deals.”
Trump is digging into his pockets to pay for the ads, a move that may signal increased seriousness. The Republican presidential candidate has touted his self-funding campaign repeatedly on the campaign trail, but had not previously shelled out for advertising. Even the $300,000 going toward radio ads is chump change in comparison to the money typically put forward for television ads.