Taxpayer-Funded Trump Ads
White House faces ethics warnings over taxpayer funds spent on Trump ads.
Anonymous
The White House has spent at least $1.4 million in taxpayer funds on television ads promoting President Donald Trump and his administration, airing weeks before the midterm elections, including during football broadcasts. One spot closely reused a 2024 campaign ad; other ads attacked communism, the “deep state” and the “fake news” media, and identified the U.S. government as their payer. Trump reportedly helped select images and video. The White House says the spots are patriotic public service announcements, not campaign ads because Trump is not on the ballot, while critics call them political propaganda and question the use of public money. Republicans including Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Sen. John Kennedy, Democrats and ethics experts criticized the ads; former White House ethics lawyer Richard Painter warned they could constitute an impeachable offense, and other critics raised potential legal violations.
Key Points
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White House communications director Steven Cheung defended the spots on social media, calling them “epic Public Service Announcements” and accusing the news media of lying about them.
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The legal dispute concerns a federal prohibition on using public funds for “propaganda purposes”; Democrats have characterized the spending as “felony criminal theft,” according to the article.
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The federal government spent $1.5 billion on advertising in the previous year, but the article says many other communications costs—including staff time and agency YouTube channels—are not readily captured in the federal budget.
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The White House had aired two earlier ads before the recycled campaign spot; one ran during shows including CBS’s *Big Brother* and prompted singer JMSN to criticize it.
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