U.S. President Donald Trump said Monday he will no longer use taxpayer money to fund a series of promotional television ads, announcing that he will instead pay for them with funds raised for MAGA, Inc., the pro-Trump super PAC. “The Radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking Ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A., and paying for them with U.S.A. money. This is a rather standard thing to do but, rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. The reversal follows criticism of the administration’s multimillion-dollar television advertising effort, which Republicans and Democrats alike have questioned. The White House has defended the spots as public service announcements. As of Monday, at least an estimated US$10.1 million in taxpayer dollars have been spent on the ads, according to a leading political ad-tracking firm, AdImpact. As of last week, the administration had created at least 13 campaign-style ads promoting Trump and his policies. Spots that have yet to air include three ads highlighting the U.S. military and operations in Iran and Venezuela, one titled “God Made Trump” and another recapping the UFC fight Trump hosted at the White House. CNN obtained clips of 12 of the ads, ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes long, two of which have already aired. They appeared in a Dropbox account shared with CNN and run by LMD, the agency awarded the government contract for the ad buys. Each ad ends with the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government” at the bottom of the screen. Another ad, “Final Battle,” which is not in the Dropbox account, has also aired in recent weeks. While each of the ads has a different theme, many of them include imagery of the president and audio with positive reviews from news reports. They also include patriotic images — including the cap toss at a military graduation, fireworks over Mount Rushmore and military flyovers. Trump has personally driven the video ads, CNN previously reported, including helping select the imagery and footage, according to a source familiar with the matter. Two Trump advisers said the ads were being produced in-house by the White House video team, part of the communications office responsible for the administration’s public messaging, though at least one was produced by a pro-Trump meme group. Watchdog groups have said the ads mark a clear violation of appropriations law restricting the use of federal funding for propaganda or partisan communications, but it’s not clear if outside groups have standing to file a lawsuit. Though the ads have received bipartisan criticism, Congress — which groups said had the clearest lane to provide some accountability — did not act to block the ads ahead of the midterms.
