Can the government use taxpayer money for political commercials? New pro-Trump TV ads raise questions

A new ad campaign that promotes President Trump and his policies is facing bipartisan backlash.

As football fans tuned in for Sunday's NFL slate, Mr. Trump delivered them a message during commercial breaks. Carrying a soundtrack of the song "Love Me," the ad touts his policies and campaign promises. The president can be heard saying, "America will never be a communist country," as a montage of pictures and videos plays in the background. At the bottom of the ad, the text shows, "Paid for by the U.S. Government."

That caught the attention of several WCCO viewers, who wanted to know: Can the government use taxpayer money for political ads? The short answer is no.

"The government can't propagandize on behalf of one candidate or party," Christopher Terry, a media law professor at the University of Minnesota, said. "The U.S. government is not supposed to propagandize in the United States. It's allowed to do so in other countries and to promote democracy overseas, but it's not supposed to do that to its own citizens."

In a letter addressed to the White House Chief of Staff, several Democratic congressional appropriators argued that the ads violate the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which prohibits taxpayer funds from being used to produce government propaganda.

"This is the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and utterly illegal misuse of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars," the letter stated.

White House officials disagree. They argue that the videos are public service announcements, not political ads. 

"President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action. Instead, the announcements are a reminder for Americans to love their country and know why it's worth defending," the White House statement said.

One of the new videos, however, is nearly identical to a Trump 2024 campaign ad, but the ending was edited to remove the previous call to action. The "Paid for by the U.S. Government" text was also added to the new version.

"The problem is the proximity to the election makes these look and feel very closely to political ads," said Terry, who believes the ads are designed to drive policy discussion right before the midterms.

The federal government is allowed to use taxpayer money to produce public service announcements, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, adding that their purpose is "to promote designated government activities, programs or services."

The Biden administration used them during the COVID-19 pandemic to promote vaccination. The George W. Bush administration ran public service announcements to inform seniors about the Medicare Modernization Act.

Public service announcements are usually aired for free, but the advertisement tracking firm AdImpact estimates that about $2.5 million has been spent to air the Trump ads.

Attorneys for the artist behind the "Love Me" song, JSMN, issued a cease-and-desist letter to the White House Chief of Staff. They said the song's use violates federal copyright law since JSMN never gave Trump's team the license to use it. 

"To anybody who has followed my career and knows what I stand for and built my career on, it should go without saying that I would never authorize my music to be used for ANY political agenda or campaign," JMSN posted on X.