USA28 September, 20263 min read
Public Citizen Urges FCC And FTC To Stop Trump Taxpayer-Funded Propaganda Ads
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Public Citizen filed complaints with FCC and FTC claiming government-funded Trump ads violate anti-propaganda laws. Complaint alleges Hatch Act violations and propaganda ban.
Taxpayer Ads Face Complaints
Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission urging broadcasters to stop running Trump commercials that appear to violate US laws, including “using taxpayer funds for propaganda.” Public Citizen said the “most recent of these taxpayer-funded campaign ads, entitled ‘The Final Battle,’ is a copied version of an ad that the Trump campaign committee issued in the 2024 election,” and it quoted the on-screen disclosure “Paid for by the US government.”
Public Citizen also argued that the ads appear to violate “a law that restricts political activity by federal government employees,” and the complaint said the updated “Final Battle” ad aired during NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Fox News Sunday, and several college and NFL football games. The White House defended the ads as public service announcements, and the complaint said Department of Homeland Security funds were used to pay for the ads, citing a Wall Street Journal report that “President Trump personally pushed for the ads and has been involved in their creation.”
Regulators Asked to Act
Public Citizen urged regulators and broadcasters to pull President Donald Trump’s unlawful taxpayer-funded campaign advertisements off the air and demanded a federal investigation, and it said the complaints highlighted “at least three campaign ads, paid for by taxpayer dollars.”
Public Citizen co-president Lisa Gilbert said, “These illegal ads should immediately be pulled from the air, and the White House’s many apparent violations of the law should be investigated,” after the group complained to the FCC, FTC, and broadcasters.
Craig Holman, a government ethics expert with Public Citizen, said, “The FCC and other oversight agencies are charged with ensuring this type of abuse of taxpayer funds does not happen. But that system only works if they take action.”
HuffPost reported that the three ads bearing disclosures stating “Paid for by the U.S. Government” began airing last week on Fox News and have since appeared during NFL and college football broadcasts, as well as on the right-wing Newsmax channel, and it said “In total, the government has spent more than $1 million to air the ads.”
DHS Funding and Political Fallout
The Department of Homeland Security tapped $20 million to pay for campaign-style ads glorifying President Donald Trump, and two top Democratic senators wrote in a letter that the money was being drawn from “Trump's so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill” and was supposed to go for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.”
Sen. Patty Murray and Sen. Chris Murphy wrote, “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,” and they demanded answers within the next 48 hours about how the funds were used.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that data from AdImpact showed more than $2.5 million was spent on the three ads over the past seven days, and it said the senators stated DHS has committed $20 million to the campaign.
The White House defended the advertisements as public service announcements, and the Chronicle said the ads disclose they are funded by the U.S. government while critics argued the commercials differ from other administrations’ PSAs because they “aren’t designed to help Americans access any specific program.”