Trump will now pay for controversial ads. But it will not reimburse taxpayers for the millions already spent

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President Donald Trump will not reimburse the federal government for money already spent on a series of campaign-style ads with taxpayer money.

On Monday night, facing threats of legal action and complaints from Republican and Democratic lawmakers for using public money to promote his administration ahead of a crucial midterm election, the president said he would “pay for them myself” and through a political action committee linked to Trump.

“The radical left is upset that I take ads, which I view as positive promotion for our great United States, and pay for them with American money,” the president wrote on his Truth Social account.

“It’s a pretty standard thing to do but, rather than do that, even though nothing will make them happy, I decided to do patriotic ads, among other things, and pay for them myself, and with the money I raised for MAGA, Inc.” he added.

The White House said Tuesday that the president was “not referring to reimbursement.”

“Presidential public service announcements” are used to “explain policy and defend the direction of the nation,” the White House said. The Independent.

The White House argued that previous administrations had launched similar ad campaigns, comparing Trump’s messages to ads promoting Medicare prescription drugs, anti-drug campaigns, Affordable Care Act enrollment and COVID-19 vaccinations.

Trump’s ads – one of which appears to be taken directly from one of the 2024 presidential campaign videos – promote a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers”.

Another video promotes his administration with the song “Love Me” by singer-songwriter JMSN, who issued a cease-and-desist notice demanding that the Trump administration immediately stop using it.

Each of the ads ends with the caption “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”

The ads have already reportedly cost $10 million, part of the Department of Homeland Security’s $20 million budget to produce the ads, according to members of Congress investigating the campaign. The administration also spent more than $2 million buying airtime on national television stations, where it has already been broadcast hundreds of times.

It’s unclear how Trump himself will spend the money. He is legally prohibited from directing or controlling a super PAC’s spending decisions.

Legal experts and members of Congress have argued that these ads are a blatantly illegal use of taxpayer dollars that violate ethics laws prohibiting public money from being used for partisan political messaging and propaganda.

“This is an illegal and outrageous use of public funds,” said Norm Eisen, a former White House ethics lawyer and co-founder of Democracy Defenders Action. The Independent last week.

“Federal law prohibits the use of taxpayer dollars for political propaganda, which is clearly the case,” he said. “This is yet another corrupt attempt to advance a partisan agenda ahead of the midterm elections, funded by average American taxpayers who are already suffering from the high costs caused by this administration’s failed policies.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan, a top Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, has pushed the White House to detail the costs of the ads and where the money is coming from, as well as the names of outside contractors, federal agencies and government employees involved.

“These campaign ads should never have been released at taxpayer expense,” she said in a statement shared with The Independent Tuesday.

“They were clearly wrong and clearly illegal, which is why the president should also immediately reimburse taxpayers for the amount already spent on these ads,” she added.

Last week, under fire for using public money for the ads, Trump said he would “gladly” pay for them himself if someone told him they were “wrong.”

“I’m not running for office,” the president told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

“When I talk about making America great, making our country great, that’s a nationwide advertisement,” he added. “It’s an advertisement for the spirit of our country.”