In what looks like an early admission of defeat, Trump’s camp is pulling up stakes and abandoning efforts to advertise in key battleground states of North Carolina and Ohio, as well as Florida.

Cancelations represent next week’s buy, per the sources. Possible they are shifting elsewhere for final three weeks https://t.co/PrQ5U1vtAu

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) October 7, 2016

Trump’s currently slated to air $46 million during those closing weeks — and more than one-third of that is in Florida. https://t.co/Z8jfFThIVb

— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) October 7, 2016

During the primaries, Trump won both Florida and North Carolina, but was edged out of Ohio by then-candidate, Governor John Kasich.

During the run-up to the general election, however, Trump has found himself lagging behind Clinton in North Carolina and Florida, while maintaining a slight lead in Ohio, per RealClearPolitics.

Whether this is an admission of defeat or a strategy to funnel resources to other states remains to be seen.

Trump had previously enjoyed a solid lead in some polls, but after his performance in the first debate of the election, he saw his numbers decline.

How this will affect the down ballot races in those states remains to be seen, but the implications of the chosen top of the GOP ticket abandoning those states with a month left until the general election no doubt is giving Republican leaders much cause to panic, in what has already been a disastrous election cycle for the right.