Taxpayer-funded Trump ads draw bipartisan scrutiny ahead of midterms
TV ads featuring Trump are expanding nationally, prompting bipartisan questions over whether they comply with restrictions on taxpayer-funded publicity.
One of the ads, backed by music that repeats the words "love me", prominently features images of President Donald Trump while he says, "America will never be a communist country." Campaign talking points like "largest tax cuts in history" flash over the screen during the spot.
At the end of the ad, a disclaimer says "paid for by the U.S. Government." The source of the funding has not yet been identified.
A White House spokesperson defended the ads as "public service announcements" intended to remind "Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad."
"The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country," the spokesperson said.
But the ads mirror the messages Republicans are voicing on the campaign trail ahead of November's midterm election. Many are attempting to brand Democrats as "communists," while touting legislative victories like the "One, Big, Beautiful Bill" law that cut taxes, both major themes of the ad.
Democrats lead in recent national public polling with just over five weeks to go until the November elections, and they aim to strip Republicans of their majorities in both the House and Senate.
In a second ad, Trump says, "This is the final battle," before rattling off a series of political goals like expelling "the warmongers from our government" and liberating "America from these villains once and for all." The messaging comes from a 2024 digital ad the Trump team ran during his second run for the White House, campaign promises he made before the war in Iran.
That ad has cost taxpayers more than $362,000 so far, airing during NFL football games on Sunday and during "Fox News Sunday," according to AdImpact.
Top Democratic members of the Appropriations Committees, who dole out federal funds, also took issue with the ads. Appropriations committees on Capitol Hill have routinely included language in government funding bills prohibiting the use of federal dollars for propaganda.
"If President Trump wants people to love him, he can pay for it himself," those lawmakers said.
"No part of any appropriation contained in this or any other Act shall be used directly or indirectly, including by private contractor, for publicity or propaganda purposes within the United States not heretofore authorized by Congress," the most recent government funding bill read.
"I don't think any public official, including President Trump or [former Homeland Security Secretary] Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves," Kennedy said. "The White House sees it differently."
