Jon Ossoff Links Donald Trump's 'Corrupt' TV Ads to Medicaid Cuts

Senator Jon Ossoff, the Georgia Democrat seeking a second term, said at a campaign event that the money behind President Donald Trump's taxpayer-funded television ads was taken from Americans through higher health insurance premiums and cuts to Medicaid.

"They're taking that money to buy corrupt taxpayer-funded political ads on national television to try to promote the failed and broken president who is now staring at this midterm election recognizing that accountability for his corruption and misdeeds is coming," Ossoff said at the event.

Ossoff is on the ballot in November, so the remark is campaign messaging. He did not name particular ads or give figures. It comes in a week when Republicans, Senate Majority Leader John Thune among them, have joined Democrats in questioning the spots.

Ossoff's Medicaid and Premium Claims

Ossoff described the money as what Republicans took "when they doubled your health insurance premiums" and "when they slashed Medicaid and defunded hospitals and nursing homes to give yet another tax break to their corporate donors and the wealthiest people in the country."

The Medicaid cuts are real and large. The reconciliation law Trump signed in July 2025, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, will reduce federal Medicaid spending by an estimated $911 billion over a decade, according to Congressional Budget Office figures analyzed by KFF. The law also extended the 2017 tax cuts.

The premium increase came from somewhere else. Enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credits expired at the end of 2025 after Congress declined to extend them. That was not a provision of the reconciliation law. KFF estimated that the expiration would more than double what subsidized marketplace enrollees pay, raising average annual premium payments 114 percent, from $888 to $1,904. Marketplace enrollment then fell from 22.1 million to 19.2 million by February 2026.

Where the Trump Ad Money Came From

The ads were not paid for out of Medicaid. In a Sept. 19 apportionment, the Office of Management and Budget moved $20 million in Customs and Border Protection funding from last year's reconciliation law into an account for "commemorative events," Roll Call reported. Ossoff's link between the Medicaid cuts and the ads is therefore one law, not one pot of money: the border funds and the Medicaid cuts were passed in the same bill.

The spots carry a "Paid for by the U.S. Government" disclaimer, and AdImpact put spending on them at more than $1.7 million, NBC News reported. FactCheck.org reported the ads "have cost at least $2.5 million." One ad is almost identical to an ad from Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

Timeline of the Taxpayer-Funded Ads

• Sept. 19: OMB moves $20 million in CBP reconciliation funds into the "commemorative events" account.
• On or after Sept. 23: The ads are released.
• Wednesday: Trump says he is "promoting the country."

Republicans Join the Criticism

"It's a great message. I like the message. But it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars," Thune, a South Dakota Republican, said, according to Roll Call.

Democratic Senators Patty Murray and Chris Murphy used language close to Ossoff's. In a letter they sent Tuesday, they said using government funding to create or air political ads "is illegal," and called it "a shockingly corrupt misuse of taxpayer dollars," Roll Call reported.

The White House calls the spots public service announcements, like those aired under earlier administrations. "These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad. The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic," a spokesperson told NBC News.

Trump defended the ads on Wednesday. "I'm not promoting a candidate. I'm not promoting myself because I'm not running for office. I'm promoting the country," he said, adding that if the ads were found to be improper, "I'll gladly pay the money," ABC News reported.

Outside experts have pushed back on the comparison to past PSAs. Annual spending bills bar the use of federal funds for "publicity or propaganda purposes." Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer, called the ads "so clearly propaganda," according to FactCheck.org.

What Happens Next

Ossoff has a lead at home. PolitiKool's polling average for Georgia shows him at 51.8 percent to 42 percent for Republican Mike Collins. Nationally, PolitiKool's polling average puts Trump's approval at 37.7 percent.