Lawmakers cry foul over publicly funded Trump TV ads

WASHINGTON — The White House is using Customs and Border Protection funding to run pro-Trump political advertisements, Democratic appropriators said Tuesday.

The funding comes from last year’s massive GOP budget reconciliation law and was intended for CBP, said House Appropriations ranking member Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Henry Cuellar, D-Texas.

The TV advertisements have drawn bipartisan criticism on Capitol Hill, as some lawmakers voice worries over the misuse of taxpayer dollars and question whether the funding transfer is legal.

The Office of Management and Budget moved $20 million to an account for “commemorative events” for the reconciliation law and spent that funding, according to a Sept. 19 apportionment.

Three advertisements, marked “Paid for by the US Government,” aired during prime television events, including college and NFL football games.

The first ad, released last week, set to the song “Love Me” by JMSN, has the words “America will never be a communist country” across the screen while also hailing some of President Donald Trump’s first-term feats, like “the largest tax cuts in history.”

It concludes with Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White praising Trump as “the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met.”

“When Democrats reclaim control of Congress next year, the House Appropriations Committee will work to uncover and reverse misuses of taxpayer money like this and hold those who abused their power accountable,” DeLauro and Cuellar said in a joint statement.

The administration was only able to use the funding for the advertisements because it was provided in last year’s budget reconciliation law, not the annual appropriations process, said Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins, R-Maine.

“We already have in the appropriations bill a funding restriction that is in the (Financial Services) bill, and that would have prohibited that,” Collins said. “That’s why the administration went around the appropriations process and used an account that was part of the reconciliation bill.”

Senate Appropriations ranking member Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Senate Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee ranking member Christopher S. Murphy, D-Conn., asked Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for details about the move in a Tuesday letter.

Murray and Murphy wrote that it appears the department has dedicated $20 million to the advertisements, and that $1.7 million has already been spent to air the ads, according to an estimate from AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.

“We should not have to remind you that using government funding to create or air political ads like the ones that have been running over the last few days is illegal and a shockingly corrupt misuse of taxpayer dollars,” Murray and Murphy wrote.

A White House spokesperson defended the move, saying, “These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad. The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about the funding, instead referring to the White House statement.

Republican response

Republicans widely agreed that taxpayer dollars should not have been used for the ads, no matter what the underlying message was.

“It’s a great message. I like the message. But it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Monday.

Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, said, “I will just tell you that right now in Utah, they’re worried about affordability and they don’t want to be worried about how their tax dollars are being spent.”

The second advertisement features Trump speaking in front of Mount Rushmore on the Fourth of July, ending with, “This is only the beginning of the golden age of America,” with the president shaking his fist.

Another commercial was very similar to an ad run by Trump in 2024 in both messaging of a ”final battle” and “liberating America from these same villains” and using the same black-and-white footage sequence of Trump walking down a hallway and staring into the camera.

Much of the audio used in “final battle” ads is from a campaign speech Trump gave in January of 2024 in Clinton, Iowa.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who is retiring, said he “hates” the ads.

“When I saw that image come up during the NFL game yesterday… I was more disappointed with that ad because it made no sense to me,” he said. “If it were some clear message (with) a real public service announcement, that’s fine. That was not that…. And what most didn’t make sense to me, it was paid for by taxpayer dollars.”

Even more-Trump-aligned Republicans criticized the move, like Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., saying on CBS News’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday, “I don’t think any public official, including President Trump or (former Homeland Security Secretary) Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.”

Also on Monday, Christian Berishaj, who performs under the name JSMN, sent a cease-and-desist letter to the White House to stop using his song “Love Me” in the first ad, which first aired last Wednesday.

“To be absolutely clear, JMSN does not want to be viewed as directly or indirectly affiliated with the President or his Administration,” the letter, signed by attorney Norm Eisen of Democracy Defenders Action, reads. “The use of the song in this context, as part of an overtly partisan, political advertisement, is particularly damaging, as it could cause others to call into question JMSN’s artistic independence and integrity.”

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