Scoop: Trump's hand-picked, taxpayer-funded ads about to ramp up
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President Trump is personally selecting which government-funded ads his administration is airing ahead of the midterms — with more to come, Axios has learned.
- "This is just the beginning," an administration official told Axios.
Why it matters: The seemingly partisan nature of the taxpayer-funded ads — which come a little more than a month before the midterms — has drawn bipartisan pushback.
Behind the scenes: Trump — a former reality TV producer who has long fixated on how things play on television — has taken a hands-on role in the ad campaign.
- The ads are being produced inside the White House.
- Trump liked videos the White House digital team — which regularly churns out aggressive, war-room-style social media posts — was producing and began posting them to his Truth Social account.
- He then decided he wanted to put them on TV and picked the videos he wanted to air.
- The decision was made a couple of weeks ago, and the ads began airing Sept. 23.
Zoom in: The administration has run three ads spotlighting Trump touting his record and echoing themes from his campaign rhetoric, including warnings about "communism, socialism and Marxism."
- One closely mirrors a 2024 Trump campaign ad in which he vows to take on the "deep state," "globalists" and "warmongers" — but replaces the campaign sponsorship tagline with a disclaimer saying, "Paid for by the U.S. Government."
Between the lines: The Department of Homeland Security is placing the ad buys using money from an existing budget, according to the administration official.
- A DHS spokesperson referred Axios to a White House statement defending the ads.
- "Patriotism isn't partisan. These public service announcements are unapologetically American, clearly disclosed, and aimed at the country — not a line on the ballot," the statement said.
- The White House also noted that previous Democratic administrations used government money to air public service announcements.
State of play: The government has spent at least $2.5 million to air the ads, according to an estimate by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
- The ads have aired more than 2,000 times on broadcast networks and more than 50 times on cable.
- The single biggest program outlay was on Fox's NFL coverage over the weekend, with 340 airings.
- The football push comes as Republicans are pouring millions into advertising during NFL and college football games in an effort to reach male voters.
Friction point: The ads have drawn criticism from within the GOP, including from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
- Thune praised the message behind the ads but said they "shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars."
- Democratic lawmakers, for their part, have claimed the ads are an illegal use of taxpayer dollars and blasted the videos as the "sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea."
Yes, but: The roughly $2.5 million spent so far is a tiny fraction of the $100M+ Trump's political operation is pouring into the midterms.
The bottom line: Republicans say the outrage is part of the point: Every time a network or cable show covers the ads, it gives them additional airtime for free.
- "When CNN takes a segment on it, they play the entire thing and it's great," the administration official said.
