Trump breaks silence on taxpayer-funded ‘campaign ads’ as even Republicans balk

Donald Trump defended a series of taxpayer-funded television ads that the administration has spent millions of dollars producing and airing over the last week, saying that the campaign is “promoting the country” — and not himself.“I’m not running for office,” the president told reporters Wednesday.“When I’m talking about making America great, making our country great, that’s a countrywide ad,” he said from the Oval Office. “That’s an ad for the spirit of our country.”The president said that if “somebody” were to tell him that it was “wrong,” he would “gladly pay the money.”“But these are ads for the country,” he said. “I’m not promoting a candidate or myself. I’m promoting the country.”Donald Trump defended a series of campaign-like ads produced with taxpayer funding, saying that the messages are merely ‘promoting the country’ and not himself (AP)The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly tapped as much as $20 million from its budget to produce the ads, and the administration has spent more than $2 million to buy up airtime on national TV networks, where they have already aired hundreds of times.One of the ads, which appears to be directly lifted from one of the president’s 2024 campaign videos, promotes a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers.” Another video promotes his administration with the song “Love Me” by singer-songwriter JMSN, who has issued a cease-and-desist notice demanding the Trump administration immediately stop using it.Each of the ads ends with the caption “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”Legal experts and members of Congress have argued that the ads are a blatantly illegal use of taxpayer dollars that violates ethics laws against the use of public money for partisan political messages and propaganda.“This is an unlawful and outrageous misuse of public funds,” former White House ethics lawyer and Democracy Defenders Action co-founder Norm Eisen told The Independent this week.“Federal law forbids using taxpayer dollars for political propaganda, which this clearly is,” he said. “This is yet another corrupt attempt to advance a partisan agenda ahead of the midterm election, paid for by average American taxpayers who are already suffering from high costs caused by this administration’s failed policies.”Critics have said the ads reek of partisan messaging that illegally use public resources to air propaganda in violation of federal ethics laws (White House)The White House has defended the campaign, which it calls “public service announcements.”“The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action,” the White House said in a press release last week. “Instead, the announcements are a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it’s worth defending — at home, at the border, and abroad.”White House communications director Steven Cheung said: “Don’t let the Fake News get away with their lies about our epic Public Service Announcements that have been running on tv.”Both Democrats and Republicans have denounced the ads and urged the administration to pull them off the air.On September 24, a group of congressional Democrats serving on appropriations and finance committees pushed the White House to “immediately take this ad off the air” and “discipline” any federal employees involved.Public Citizen, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, has filed a complaint with the federal government accusing the White House of violating the Hatch Act, among other laws.The Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in most political activity. The president is largely exempt from the law, but government employees and administration officials who worked on the ads could be in the crosshairs, according to legal experts.Top Senate Democrats wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Tuesday demanding answers about the agency’s alleged appropriations of public funds to produce the ads, whether any third parties were hired to make them, and whose idea they were in the first place.“We should not have to remind you that using government funding to create or air political ads like the ones that have been running over the last few days is illegal and a shockingly corrupt misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Senators Patty Murray and Chris Murphy wrote.The American people deserve answers about how this president is literally stealing their tax dollars to air campaign ads celebrating himself — while doing nothing to help them afford health care or housing,” they added. “These ads need to immediately come off the air, taxpayers need to be paid back for this theft, and everyone responsible needs to be held accountable for this corrupt and illegal propaganda.”Nonprofit watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington also filed a complaint with Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General on Wednesday, writing that “this type of spending has no place in federal agencies.”“The U.S. Treasury is funded by hardworking Americans’ tax dollars and its appropriations must be used for government programs that will improve the lives of those Americans rather than being spent to promote a political campaign agenda that favors those already in power,” the group wrote in a request for an investigation.