Trump campaign ads paid with public money violate federal law, critics say

Federal regulators have been urged to stop the broadcast of White House advertisements promoting Donald Trump that critics say amounts to government propaganda and violate laws against using public money to promote partisan causes.

Public Citizen, an advocacy group, called on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to intervene and block further airing of three ads it said were “designed to boost the image and character of Donald Trump” as part of the Republicans’ campaign for November’s midterm elections.

“Federal law explicitly prohibits using appropriated public funds for government propaganda, self-aggrandizement, or partisan political advertising,” the organization wrote. “Yet, that is exactly the nature of Trump’s recent campaign ads.”

Broadcast stations cannot reject ads from legally qualified political candidates – but Trump is not technically a candidate, although he has urged voters to imagine that he is, on the November ballot.

“Public Citizen strongly urges the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission to direct broadcasters to stop broadcasting these apparently illegal campaign advertisements and calls on individual broadcasters to cease airing the campaign advertisements,” the group wrote in a letter addressed to both agencies.

“It is the greater responsibility of both the FCC [and] FTC and individual broadcasters to keep the airwaves fair and honest and operate in the ‘public interest, convenience, and necessity’.”

The White House has labeled the ads – which began airing last week – “public service announcements” and has responded defiantly to criticism. It has established a web page arguing for their use.

Axios reported that more ads are set to broadcast, with Trump personally choosing which to use during the campaign for November’s midterms, which most polls suggest the Republicans are on course to lose.

“This is just the beginning,” an administration official told Axios, which reported that the ads are being produced inside the White House.

One is a re-run of a commercial aired by the Trump campaign before the 2024 presidential election and features black-and-white footage of him walking while his voice announces “the final battle”. He pledges to “throw off the sick political class that hates our country” and “rout the fake news media”.

The only difference from the 2024 ad are the words “paid for the US government”.

Another shows images of the president at various events while he is heard declaring “America will never be a communist country.” It takes place against the soundtrack of a choir signing the song Love Me.

A third advertisement shows images of Mount Rushmore and has Trump declaring that “the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history.”

The Wall Street Journal reported that the commercials were funded by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is responsible for immigration enforcement and is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The DHS came under scrutiny early this year after a $200m advertising campaign that boosted Kristi Noem, then the homeland security secretary. Noem told a congressional committee that Trump had “signed off on the ads”. Her testimony reportedly infuriated Trump, who subsequently fired her.

The latest Trump ads had aired more than 90 times across nationwide channels, including Fox, Newmax, MSNow and CBS by Sunday evening, the Journal reported. They were run during Saturday Night Live, Fox News Sunday and during several college and NFL football games. Public Citizen said the cost of the three ads already broadcast was estimated at more than $1m.

“Donald Trump is not a candidate for any elective office. The FCC and broadcasters are not constrained by the special rule protecting candidate advertisements.

“Although the White House contends these ads are ‘public service announcements’, and therefore may be paid for with taxpayer dollars, [they do not] meet the standard of a public service announcement. They do not refer to any specific governmental program and they do not serve the purpose of informing the public about any specific governmental program.”

On its website, the White House denounced the criticism as “highly dishonest” and likened the ads to previous public service announcements by previous presidents, dating back to Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D Roosevelt in the first and second world war, and including the more recent administrations of George W Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

“The announcements are very clearly not campaign ads; President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action,” says the statement, under the headline “Presidential public service announcements are nothing new.”

“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.”

The Guardian contacted the FCC and FTC for comment.