GOP House candidate from San Diego criticizes Trump comments on Iran – US politics live

President Donald Trump says he will stop using taxpayer money for television ads promoting himself and will have his super PAC, MAGA Inc., cover them instead, according to The Independent and a US politics live blog covering the same dispute. The shift follows heavy criticism of the spots, which Vice President JD Vance defended on Monday as nonpartisan, according to The Guardian.

The live blog says the ads cost at least $1.5 million in federal funds, while The Independent puts the administration's spending above $2.8 million across several networks. Trump wrote that the Patriotic Ads would be paid for with money raised for MAGA, Inc., and blamed the "Radical Left" for the uproar. He gave no details on repaying taxpayers for spots already broadcast, and the White House did not say how it would show political funds were used.

Vance said the campaign resembles government advertising for the Affordable Care Act under the Obama administration. A White House official told The Independent the ads are not political because Trump is not on the ballot. Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, said it may be felony theft, while Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana also objected.

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