Koch network focuses on Senate, turns away from Trump

(AP) — Billionaire industrialist Charles Koch has declared that his expansive political network would not support Donald Trump, questioning whether the Republican presidential nominee believes in free markets.

With Election Day just three months away, Koch and his chief lieutenants openly refused to support the Republican presidential nominee, focusing their tremendous resources instead on helping the GOP win competitive Senate contests in states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Details on Koch's decision emerged Sunday, the second day of a three-day gathering for donors who promise to give at least $100,000 each year to the various groups backed by the Koch brothers' Freedom Partners — a network of education, policy and political entities that aims to promote a smaller, less intrusive government.

The decision was welcomed by many of the 400 donors who attended the weekend retreat, even though "a reasonably significant" number of attendees wanted the Koch network to support Trump, said Chris Wright, a Colorado-based energy entrepreneur.

With reporters on hand, Koch described his first priority as "to preserve the country's financial future and to eliminate corporate welfare."

Since it appears that neither presidential candidate is likely to support us in these efforts," he said, "we're focused on maximizing the number of principled leaders in the House and Senate who will.