Trump used taxpayer funds to make campaign-style ads — and now his super PAC is running them

Audio of President Donald Trump blasting “every single Democrat in Congress” is running through a 27-second ad from a super PAC connected to the president.But the ad appears to have been produced by the White House — and made by public officials who are paid with taxpayer dollars — and that has now sparked a fresh lawsuit.The White House first published the “Every Democrat Voted Against No Tax on Tips” ad on October 12. It is still running on the White House website and YouTube channels. Trump also posted the ad to his Truth Social account on October 14.MAGA Inc. then began airing a virtually identical ad over the weekend. The only difference: a tag line indicating the Trump-connected super PAC paid for airtime: “Paid for by MAGA Inc., which is responsible for the content of this advertising” and “not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.”Except that it was, according to the Democratic National Committee, which is among several organizations that filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the administration from siphoning public money to illegally promote the president and his agenda with taxpayer-funded “propaganda.”The Trump administration is facing several lawsuits accusing the White House of developing campaign-style ads with taxpayer funds (Reuters)“Thus, rather than paying to develop its own advertisement, MAGA Inc. broadcast an ad unlawfully developed by White House Office personnel, whose salaries are paid using Congressional appropriations,” according to Monday’s filing from the DNC’s litigation director Daniel Freeman.The DNC argues the White House “should be enjoined from developing and sharing this and similar publicity or propaganda ads,” including at least 12 other ads developed by the White House and provided to the ad firm LMD Agency, which was awarded $20 million by the Trump administration to produce the ads.Monday’s filing “demonstrates that MAGA Inc. is using blatant political propaganda, illegally produced and distributed with taxpayer dollars, as a part of their partisan advertising,” DNC spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández told The Independent. “The DNC is taking Trump to court to stop his desperate attempt to salvage his tanking approval ratings using taxpayer money,” Hernández said.The DNC’s lawsuit says the administration illegally “deprives the DNC of a fair electoral process by adding public funds to the resources available to support Republican candidates.”“The use of public funds also places the DNC and Democratic candidates at an electoral disadvantage ... by preserving funds held by campaign committees and PACs — including MAGA Inc. — for other political expenditures,” the lawsuit says.The Independent has requested comment from the White House.The ad lambasts “every single Democrat in Congress” for voting against Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” while flashing images and clips of prominent Democratic targets, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Rep. Jamie Raskin, among others.MAGA Inc, a super PAC connected to the president, is now airing an ad developed by the White House to blast Democrats who voted against his so-called ‘no tax on tips’ proposal (AFP/Getty)A federal judge in a parallel case targeting the use of taxpayer funds to produce the ads has blocked the administration from running them,The White House previously told The Independent that the president “was not referring to reimbursement,” and it’s unclear how Trump will spend the money himself. He is legally barred from directing or controlling the spending decisions of any super PAC connected to him.Last week’s court order blocks the administration from “using, disbursing or transferring” taxpayer funds appropriated by the Department of Homeland Security to “develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish or air” the commercials for at least two weeks while the legal battle continues.The ads continued to run in nearly 400 spots that same night and in the day that followed, according to AdImpact data reviewed by the plaintiffs.Department of Justice officials later “apologized” to the court.Officials “understand that they are enjoined from using, disbursing, or transferring funds appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security to develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air the challenged advertisements,” government attorneys wrote in court filings last week.Officials also “understand that they shall cancel or cause to be cancelled any slot, placement, reservation, or arrangement for the airing or dissemination of the challenged advertisements” an “not enter into, renew, or expand any agreement authorizing the development, creation, dissemination, placement, or airing of the challenged advertisements.”But the government has already spent millions of dollars developing and placing the ads, all of which ended with the phrase “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”Altogether, those ads aired more than 16,000 times at a cost of $15.4 million in advertising expenditures through October 8, according to plaintiffs. The Justice Department has not disputed these figures.Former White House ethics lawyer and Democracy Defenders Action co-founder Norm Eisen previously told The Independent that the ads are “clearly” political propaganda.“This is yet another corrupt attempt to advance a partisan agenda ahead of the midterm election, paid for by average American taxpayers who are already suffering from high costs caused by this administration’s failed policies,” he said.Senator Maggie Hassan, a top Democrat on the Joint Economic Committee, also told The Independent that the ads “never should have run on the taxpayer’s dime to begin with.”“They were clearly wrong and clearly illegal, which is why the president should also immediately repay the taxpayers for the amount already spent on these ads,” she said.With just two weeks until Election Day, MAGA Inc. is spending millions of dollars on advertising to support dozens of Trump-backed congressional candidates in competitive races across the country. The PAC spent nearly $80 million from its massive war chest, as of September 20, according to federal filings.