Trump shifts funding for ‘patriotic ads’ after taxpayer money uproar

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump is done with the backlash over his taxpayer-funded promotional television ads and is ready to take matters into his own hands.

The 80-year-old has announced that he will be paying for a series of national television ads, or as he puts it, “public service announcements,” that had previously been paid for with government funds.

The reversal follows criticism of the administration’s multimillion-dollar television advertising effort, which critics have denounced as propaganda and a waste of taxpayer money, as well as a potential violation of government ethics laws for being overtly political.

Trump calls the controversial ads ‘positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.’

Trump took to his Truth Social on Monday, October 5, to acknowledge criticism surrounding the ads.

“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.

“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,” he added. 

The move marks a shift from comments made just days prior.

Last week, Trump defended the use of taxpayer funds for the ads while speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, arguing that the broadcasts were meant to promote the country rather than any political candidate.

The comments followed a New York Times report over the weekend that the POTUS had personally instructed his budget director to set aside public funds for the television spots.

The super PAC financing the transition possesses substantial capital to absorb the costs. According to AdImpact, MAGA Inc entered September with roughly $415 million on hand and, together with two affiliated super PACs, has reserved approximately $194 million for upcoming advertising.

What was in Trump’s 'public service announcements'

The first of Trump’s promotional ads aired initially on Fox News earlier this month, showing the president railing against “communism, socialism, and Marxism,” themes borrowed from his campaign trail rhetoric.

Another ad aired the following weekend, again on Fox News, featuring black-and-white footage of Trump as he delivered a similar message and vowed to take on the “deep state,” “globalists,” “communists,” and “fake news media.”

The spots ended with a disclaimer stating, “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”

Reports suggest that the ads were allegedly financed through a $20 million Department of Homeland Security contract awarded on September 20 to LMD Agency.

According to public records first reported by The Washington Sun, the White House Office of Management and Budget had transferred $20 million to Customs and Border Protection for “OBBB Commemorative Events” a day prior.

Data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact shows that more than $10 million in taxpayer money has been spent on the campaign since September.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday called for an independent investigation, calling the spots a "staggering misuse of public funding and breach of public trust," after two Democratic congressmen last week urged a probe.

The White House has time and again defended the advertisements, calling them public service announcements rather than the president’s promotional ads.

A White House official stated last month that the spots “are clearly not political,” adding, “The President is not on the ballot and the ads don’t have a call to action.”

Another spokesperson further described the anti-communism ad as “educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”