Democrats sue to stop Trump from using taxpayer funds for self-promoting ads

The Democratic National Committee went to federal court in Washington on Wednesday to block President Donald Trump from financing promotional television spots about himself with public money. The party contends the spots amount to unlawful government propaganda. The media tracker AdImpact puts the bill to taxpayers above $12m, and one spot reuses footage from Trump's 2024 campaign, according to The Guardian.

The filing says Trump personally ordered the effort, the White House office designed it, the Office of Management and Budget moved $20m to cover it, and Customs and Border Protection carried it out. It cites a federal ban on appropriated funds for publicity or propaganda and a bar on self-aggrandizement, pointing to a first spot showing Gianni Infantino presenting Trump a peace prize. Ken Martin, the DNC chair, described the spending as a desperate move to help Republicans before November.

Trump had said Monday that his Maga Inc Super Pac would take over the costs, but the White House said the next day it would not repay what was already spent, and a fifth spot, on Venezuela, was also government-funded. A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 86% of Americans consider such ads inappropriate.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →