Trump defends his taxpayer-funded ‘public service announcements’ as a ‘standard thing to do’, but says he’ll switch the bill to his super PAC

Two government-funded spots featuring President Donald Trump have drawn complaints from critics who call them “public service announcements” in name only. The ads close with a line that reads, “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” On Monday, Trump answered that criticism on Truth Social and said he would take over the cost himself.

Mediaite pointed out that the earlier spot ran on Fox News earlier this month. In it, Trump speaks against “communism, socialism, and Marxism,” language he has also used while campaigning. A second spot ran on Fox News last weekend. That one uses black-and-white video of the president as he delivers a similar message and says he will take on the “deep state,” “globalists,” “communists,” and “fake news media.”

People who objected to the ads called them propaganda and a misuse of taxpayer money. They also said the spots may break government ethics rules because the message is openly political. The pushback was not limited to Democrats. Several Republicans in Congress criticized the ads as well.

The president moves the cost to MAGA Inc. after the backlash

Trump’s Monday evening post said he would “pay for them myself,” using money from his super PAC, MAGA Inc. He treated the government funding as ordinary practice, then said he was dropping it anyway.

“The Radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking Ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A., and paying for them with U.S.A. money,” he wrote on Truth Social. “This is a rather standard thing to do but, rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” The post is signed, “President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

In that message, Trump said he sees the ads as a positive promotion for the country. He said paying for them with U.S. money was a standard thing to do, then added that nothing would satisfy his critics. He said he had decided to keep running the patriotic ads, and others, and to cover them with funds raised for MAGA Inc.

The same spots have also run outside Fox News. They have aired on CNN and on MS NOW. The administration has kept running such spots, as when the White House aired another taxpayer-funded TV ad, and Trump was heard warning of the final battle.

Those two outlets, together with Politico, are among the organizations Trump has been trying to keep out of the White House. The versions that ran on those networks still carried the government-payment disclaimer.

MAGA Inc. is already spending on other November races. The PAC is backing several Republican candidates, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. It is putting $5 million into ads that support Paxton and another $5 million into ads aimed at his Democratic opponent, State Rep. James Talarico.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the PAC had raised more than $403 million by the end of July. Trump’s post did not give a figure for what the government-funded ads had already cost, and it did not say when the switch to MAGA Inc. money would begin. The dispute over who pays for such advertising has already played out publicly, as when the Trump administration aired a government-funded TV ad targeting communism and the backlash came from both sides of the aisle.