WASHINGTON — The White House has spent days defending three taxpayer-funded television advertisements that glorify President Donald Trump and are nearing at least $1.5 million in public spending, calling them public service announcements similar to those used by past administrations, according to the Associated Press.
“Don’t let the Fake News get away with their lies about our epic Public Service Announcements that have been running on tv,” White House communications director Steven Cheung posted on X on Sunday.
But the ads drew mounting criticism on Monday, including from members of Trump’s own party, weeks before the 2026 midterm elections. “It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters. “It would not have been something that I would have done,” said Sen. Mike Rounds, another South Dakota Republican.
Multiple legal experts consulted by the AP said the ads appear to run afoul of federal statutes, including a law barring congressionally appropriated funds from being used for “publicity or propaganda” and a law limiting the partisan political activities of government employees.
The experts said the new ads, which are airing on network and cable television and streaming services — including during college football and National Football League programming — differ from other administrations’ public service campaigns because they are not designed to help Americans access any specific program.
“You watch all three ads, they’re sheer propaganda,” said Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer under Republican President George W. Bush. “This is increasingly looking like what authoritarian governments do to promote their leaders.”
It remains unclear which part of the government is supplying the funds for the ads.