White House Defends Government-Funded Trump Television Ads
publishers 13articles 13first reported 25 Sep, 03:28 UTCdeveloping since 25 Sep · 7 editions
The White House defended government-funded television advertisements praising President Donald Trump that began airing ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, saying the spots are public-service announcements rather than campaign ads.
One 30-second commercial features Trump declaring, “Together we will defeat communism, socialism and Marxism in America” and “America will never be a communist country.” It also uses 2024 remarks from UFC President Dana White describing Trump as resilient and committed to fighting for the country. The advertisement carries a disclaimer stating that it was paid for by the U.S. government.
The White House said the announcements encourage Americans to love and defend their country, adding that “patriotism isn’t partisan.” It argued that Trump is not on the ballot, the ads contain no call to action and previous administrations used publicly funded advertising to explain policy. As an example, it cited former President Joe Biden’s 2021 television campaign promoting COVID-19 vaccination.
Democrats alleged that its use of public money is illegal, according to reports from Axios and Bloomberg. The Associated Press reported that political media-monitoring company AdImpact estimated the administration had spent more than $400,000 airing the ads. The commercial appeared during prime-time and morning programming on CBS and across several Fox News shows.
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Written from 6 articles, 1 with the publisher's own text; 6 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 30 h after the record first saw the story; the editor revised it.
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- Independent newsrooms
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- Second model (editor)
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