Trump Announces His PAC Will Cover Costs of Controversial Taxpayer-Funded Ads

Donald Trump said on Monday he would cover the cost of taxpayer-funded, pro-Trump ads using money raised for MAGA, Inc., a political action committee, after the television spots praising himself provoked a strong backlash.

In a social‑media post, Trump described the ads, which have cost at least $1.5 million in federal funds, as “a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” and called them “a rather standard practice”.

MAGA Inc is Trump’s political war chest, which had amassed more than $400 million by the end of July. Trump has begun drawing on it to support Republican candidates nationwide ahead of the midterm elections.

Trump gave no details on how he would reimburse taxpayers for ads that have already aired, nor explained how his political organization would pay for such advertising.

The White House – which had vigorously defended using taxpayer money for spots intended to promote the president – said Monday night that MAGA Inc would cover the cost of such ads going forward. It did not address how it or Trump would demonstrate that political funds were being used for any advertisements.

Trump’s abrupt reversal followed criticism from leaders of both parties over the use of taxpayer funds.

Last week, two congressional Democrats urged federal watchdogs to probe whether the Trump administration illegally used taxpayer money to air the television spots that began running in late September.

Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and California Representative George Whitesides wrote to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), labeling the commercials “desperate pre‑election propaganda”.

Legal experts warned that the ads might even breach federal statutes, including a prohibition on using congressionally appropriated funds for “publicity or propaganda” and a restriction on partisan political activity by government employees.

The first advertisement featured clips of Trump speaking about defeating communism, interspersed with on‑screen text touting the “largest tax cuts in history”, “reviving American manufacturing”, and a pledge to “defend law and order and police”.

Later the same week, a second ad began airing. It showed scenic footage of Mount Rushmore paired with quotes and clips from Trump’s Fourth of July weekend speech there commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary.

A third, more recent spot was virtually identical to an ad from Trump’s 2024 Republican re‑election campaign, depicting him walking down a hallway while his voice warns of a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers”.

All of the ads concluded with the message: “Paid for by the US government.”

According to AdImpact, which monitors media spending, the spots had cost at least $1.4 million by the end of September. The actual expenditure could be higher, depending on whether networks classified the advertisement as political.

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