Trump says his super PAC will pay for his promotional ads, but not for the taxpayer-funded spots that already aired
After criticism from both parties, President Trump said MAGA Inc. will cover future costs of the government ads featuring him. The White House says that does not mean paying back the millions already spent, and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer wants two federal watchdogs to investigate.
What changed: President Donald Trump posted Monday night that he had “decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc,” his super PAC, ABC News reported. The national TV ads had been paid for by the federal government through a $20 million contract using Department of Homeland Security funds, The New York Times reported (via the Philadelphia Inquirer).
What didn’t: A White House official told ABC News on Tuesday that the post “was not referring to reimbursement.” Asked whether he would repay the government, Trump said, “We’ll decide.” Nearly $11.5 million in taxpayer-funded ads had aired as of midday Tuesday, according to AdImpact figures cited by the Times — including a new 60-second spot about the U.S. operation against Venezuela’s former leader Nicolás Maduro that began running Tuesday.
The two sides: The White House defends the spots as public service announcements of the kind past administrations have run, and Vice President JD Vance said they are “not partisan,” ABC reported. Ethics watchdogs, many Democrats and some Republicans say the ads, which air weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms, are an improper use of public money. One reused footage from a 2024 Trump campaign video.
Schumer’s requests: Schumer on Tuesday asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Congress’s nonpartisan auditor, to determine where the money came from and whether it fit what Congress approved, and asked the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) to examine whether federal employees broke rules on political activity, according to his office and the Washington Times. He also said he will file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), arguing that federal law bars officeholders from controlling a super PAC.
What the law says, in plain terms: Appropriations laws generally bar federal agencies from spending money on “publicity or propaganda” not authorized by Congress, and the GAO is the office that rules on such questions. Super PACs can raise unlimited money but may not coordinate their spending with candidates. Whether either rule was broken here is for those agencies to decide; no finding has been made.
Sources
- ABC News — Trump says his super PAC will now pay for controversial taxpayer-funded promotional ads
- Philadelphia Inquirer (New York Times) — Trump does not plan to reimburse taxpayers for controversial promotional ads
- AP News — Trump hasn’t committed to repaying taxpayer money already spent on ads
- Senate Democrats — Leader Schumer demands investigation into use of taxpayer money in Trump ads; will report Trump to FEC
- Washington Times — Schumer reports Trump to FEC for coordinating with super PAC spending on ‘propaganda’ ads