Experts Question the White House’s Defense of Taxpayer-Funded Ads

The White House has defended 3 taxpayer-funded advertisements featuring President Donald Trump by comparing them to ads that were paid for by past statesmanlike administrations. But immoderate ineligible experts person said the Trump White House commercials are governmental messages intended to power the 2026 midterms and whitethorn interruption U.S. laws, including a prohibition against utilizing national funds for propaganda.

The White House described its ads arsenic “public work announcements” successful a Sept. 25 property release pushing backmost connected criticism. It said, “The announcements are precise intelligibly not run ads; President Trump is not connected the ballot and determination is nary telephone to action. Instead, the announcements are a reminder for Americans to emotion their state and cognize wherefore it’s worthy defending — astatine home, astatine the border, and abroad.”

The merchandise went connected to accidental that “[a]dministrations of some parties person utilized nationalist work announcements to explicate argumentation and marque the lawsuit for the nation’s direction,” citing examples of ads from the George W. Bush, Obama and Biden administrations, among others.

A ineligible adept we consulted did not spot a correlation. 

“I conscionable deliberation you’re not going to find immoderate examination astatine all,” Richard Painter, a firm instrumentality prof and erstwhile White House morals lawyer for George W. Bush, told america successful an interview. Painter said the Trump White House ads are “so intelligibly propaganda,” which mostly refers to authorities communications intended to manipulate oregon power nationalist opinion. 

John G. Geer, a prof of governmental subject astatine Vanderbilt University and writer of “In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads successful Presidential Campaigns,” besides told us, “I conscionable deliberation that the ads are antithetic capable truthful that I personally don’t bargain the argument” that the ads from the Trump medication and caller presidents are each the same. He said his cognition is that the Trump White House ads are much political. “We’ll spot what the courts say,” helium said — if a suit brings the substance to the judiciary.

Later, we’ll spell implicit the cited examples of federally funded ads that were tally nether Presidents Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The archetypal Trump White House connection to aerial includes images of Trump arsenic helium says, “Together we volition decision communism, socialism, and Marxism successful America. America volition ne'er beryllium a communist country.” Viewers repeatedly perceive the words “love me,” which are lyrics from a JMSN song of the aforesaid name. Near the extremity of that 30-second spot, Dana White, the UFC CEO, compliments Trump and talks astir him “fighting truthful hard for the state helium loves.”

The 3rd ad, successful achromatic and white, shows Trump walking and staring into the camera arsenic helium says successful a voiceover, “we volition demolish the heavy state,” “expel the warmongers from our government,” “drive retired the globalists,” and “cast retired the communists, Marxists and fascists.” The advertisement ends with: “We volition rout the fake quality media, and we volition liberate America from these villains erstwhile and for all.” The video is astir identical to an ad from Trump’s 2024 statesmanlike campaign.

The 2nd ad, a infinitesimal long, features video and audio from Trump’s July 3 speech from a tract adjacent Mount Rushmore, arsenic the president says, “We are the freest radical connected Earth, and by the grace of God, the United States of America is the astir successful, astir accomplished, astir exceptional federation ever to beryllium successful quality history.” The advertisement ends with him saying, “This is lone the opening of the aureate property of America.”

All 3 ads were released connected oregon aft Sept. 23 and see a “Paid for by the U.S. Government” disclaimer. The ads person aired connected broadcast and/or streaming platforms, including during Sunday governmental speech shows and assemblage and NFL shot games.

“Our taxation dollars are hard astatine work. And, we believe, astir apt illegally so,” Painter and 3 different morals experts wrote successful a Sept. 28 piece successful the online work the Contrarian. For the post, Painter was joined successful criticizing the Trump White House ads by Norman L. Eisen, erstwhile White House peculiar counsel to Obama; Virginia R. Canter, erstwhile White House subordinate counsel to Obama and President Bill Clinton; and Christopher J. Swartz, who worked for the Office of Government Ethics crossed aggregate administrations and was concisely acting main of the Ethics Law and Policy Branch successful 2025, during Trump’s 2nd term.

“These videos are not ‘public work announcements’ arsenic the White House claims,” the authors wrote. “They are wide attempts to boost Republicans’ chances successful the impending midterm elections fixed their sagging canvass numbers. The timing, content, and format of the videos each suggest they are covert attempts directed astatine the occurrence of the Republican party.”

The White House said “Trump is not connected the ballot” this November, but the president has told wavering Republican voters to pretend helium is. The ineligible experts besides noted successful their portion that 2 of the White House ads highlighting Trump see references to defeating communism oregon communists, which is what Trump regularly calls antiauthoritarian socialists moving for Congress. (We’ve written that antiauthoritarian socialists and communists bash not person the aforesaid governmental oregon economical ideology, and antiauthoritarian socialists marque up a tiny number of legislature candidates.)

“Even during the tallness of the McCarthy epoch and the Cold War, the United States authorities ne'er came anyplace adjacent to making an advertisement similar this,” the experts said, adding that nether the Hatch Act, a national worker different than the president oregon vice president “may not usage his authoritative authorization oregon power for the intent of interfering with oregon affecting the effect of an election.” The statute would use to different national employees who participated successful making oregon disseminating the ads, the experts said.

Also, yearly appropriations bills passed by Congress person agelong included language prohibiting payer funds from being utilized for “publicity oregon propaganda purposes wrong the United States.”

A few Republicans person spoken retired against the Trump White House ads arsenic well. “I similar the message, but it shouldn’t beryllium paid for with payer dollars,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters astir the ads connected Sept. 28. The time prior, connected CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana said, “I don’t deliberation immoderate nationalist official, including President Trump … should walk nationalist wealth connected backstage ads for themselves.”

A national idiosyncratic who violates the Hatch Act could look penalties specified arsenic “removal from national service, simplification successful grade, debarment from national employment for a play not to transcend 5 years, suspension, reprimand, oregon a civilian punishment not to transcend $1,000,” according to the U.S. Office of General Counsel.

In addition, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics successful Washington has written that the Government Accountability Office previously found that utilizing national funds for unauthorized publicity oregon propaganda violates the Antideficiency Act, which, “in terrible cases,” could pb to administrative penalties, oregon a fine of up to $5,000 oregon up to 2 years successful prison.

Painter told america that Congress could besides inquire to beryllium reimbursed for an improper usage of payer funds. The ads combined person outgo astatine slightest $2.5 million, according to the ad-tracking work AdImpact.

Obama Administration Ads/Outreach

One of the examples the White House cited nether Obama sparked controversy, and the Government Accountability Office determined the nationalist outreach run had violated national laws. The different illustration is akin to ads tally nether Trump, promoting the unfastened enrollment play for Affordable Care Act security plans.

Under Obama, the Environmental Protection Agency successful 2014 and 2015 utilized a nationalist outreach run done societal media to promote enactment for its projected regularisation connected cleanable drinking water. The New York Times called it “a run that tests the limits of national lobbying law.” The effort was aimed astatine ginning up enactment during a nationalist remark play connected the projected rule, which concerned EPA regularisation of h2o sources.

The EPA argued that it wasn’t violating the Anti-Lobbying Law due to the fact that its outreach didn’t archer the nationalist to interaction oregon lobby Congress.

But successful December 2015, the GAO concluded that the EPA had violated national laws prohibiting the bureau from spending national dollars for “publicity oregon propaganda purposes” and prohibiting the usage of national appropriations for “indirect oregon grassroots lobbying successful enactment of oregon absorption to pending legislation.”

In particular, the GAO faulted the EPA for utilizing a societal media instrumentality that resulted successful immoderate messages not identifying the EPA arsenic the root of the information. Instead, to immoderate members of the public, “it appeared that their person independently shared a connection of his oregon her enactment for EPA and cleanable water,” GAO said, calling this “covert propaganda.” (The messages shared done people’s societal media accounts said, “Clean h2o is important to me. I enactment EPA’s efforts to support it for my health, my household and my community.”)

GAO said that the usurpation of grassroots lobbying occurred erstwhile the EPA’s blog posts linked to extracurricular groups, whose pages included prompts to interaction Congress successful enactment of EPA’s projected rule.

The Trump White House besides pointed to the Obama medication moving TV ads astir HealthCare.gov, the website radical usage to motion up for Affordable Care Act wellness plans, during the unfastened enrollment periods successful 2015 and 2016. The ads didn’t diagnostic the president, but alternatively mundane radical talking astir however they had signed up for low-cost insurance.

In one spot, tally successful November 2015, a pistillate who’s going for a tally says that her premium was $22 a period and that signing up was “very easy.” A feline who appears to beryllium going to a assemblage says helium got “exactly the benignant of sum I wanted astatine the terms I wanted,” with the words “$57/month” connected screen. A pistillate and her kid are shown with the words “$405/month household of 4.” The advertisement past says that “most radical who motion up connected HealthCare.gov suffice for fiscal assistance to marque sum much affordable.” It ends by encouraging radical to “sign up by Dec. 15.” The advertisement says astatine the bottommost that it is “sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.”

Another example from 2015 likewise says that astir radical tin get fiscal assistance with their premiums.

The Obama medication besides ran ads successful the tally up to the 2016 unfastened enrollment period, which began Nov. 1 — meaning that those ads ran soon earlier and aft that year’s statesmanlike election. One example from November 2016 is akin to the 2015 ads, showing assorted radical and saying that astir radical signing up “can find plans for $50-$100/mo. with fiscal help.”

One could reason that Obama, who signed the Affordable Care Act into instrumentality successful 2010, had a vested governmental involvement successful getting radical to motion up and having the programme succeed. But the Trump medication besides has tally ads to pass the nationalist astir the unfastened enrollment periods. Like the Obama-era ads, these three examples from precocious 2025 featured radical talking astir however they easy enrolled successful an security plan, and the ads said that “4 retired of 5 customers tin find a wellness program for $21 oregon little per period with fiscal help.”

Biden Administration Ads

As the Trump medication pointed out, the Biden medication besides utilized payer dollars for an advertisement run utilizing television, digital, vigor and people spots to promote radical successful aboriginal 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic to get vaccinated.

The Trump property merchandise said the Biden medication “poured hundreds of millions of dollars” into an advertisement run “to thrust a nationwide nationalist wellness message.”

But arsenic the Washington Post story the property merchandise links to explains, the run utilized a $250 cardinal declaration that the Trump medication signed with consultancy Fors Marsh the erstwhile year. According to the article, “Officials person said they held the run until vaccines were wide disposable to maximize its impact.”

Ironically, numerous Democrats expressed concern successful September 2020 aft the Trump medication hired Fors Marsh for a run from HHS that sought to “defeat despair, animate anticipation and execute nationalist recovery” amid the pandemic.

In a Sept. 11, 2020, missive to HHS, Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone, past seat of the Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote, “Among different things, the Committee is acrophobic that HHS whitethorn usage much than a quarter-billion dollars successful payer funds connected backstage communications consultants charged with distorting the facts and misleading the nationalist astir the Trump Administration’s failed effect to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

A missive from 3 different Democratic leaders successful the Senate likewise stated, “We person sedate concerns that, alternatively than absorption connected readying and executing a nationalist strategy to incorporate the coronavirus, the Trump Administration is utilizing a 4th of a cardinal dollars successful payer wealth to money what appears to beryllium a governmental propaganda run conscionable 2 months earlier a statesmanlike election.”

Under Biden, the “We Can Do This” campaign directed by Fors Marsh sought to entreaty to “a radical known arsenic the ‘movable middle’ — radical who were hesitant but not needfully opposed to getting vaccinated — with highly customized, science-based communications and messages of empowerment,” according to the consultancy.

The ads featured images of Americans and encouraged radical to sojourn the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website oregon vaccines.gov for much information.

At the time, Trump was besides encouraging radical to get vaccinated. At the Conservative Political Action Conference connected Feb. 28, 2021, Trump boasted that his medication had helped present the vaccine successful “record time” and aboriginal said, “So, everybody spell get your shot.”

“I promote them to instrumentality it,” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity successful April 2021.

George W. Bush Administration Ads

The Trump medication besides pointed to a arguable $9.5 cardinal advertisement run produced by the George W. Bush medication successful 2004 touting the medicine cause benefits successful the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

The TV advertisement and flyers claimed the law, which passed mostly on partisan lines, provided the aforesaid Medicare with “more benefits.”

At the time, Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg criticized the advertisement arsenic “a propaganda effort with payer dollars.”

At slightest 1 network, CBS, pulled the advertisement portion the General Accounting Office (later renamed the Government Accountability Office) — astatine the petition of Lautenberg and different Democrats — investigated whether it violated prohibitions connected national funds being utilized for “publicity oregon propaganda” purposes. Democrats argued the advertisement was inaccurate and was intended to beforehand the reelection of Bush that year.

The GAO concluded that portion the TV advertisement and accompanying flyers contained “notable omissions and different weaknesses,” they were “not truthful partisan arsenic to beryllium unlawful.”

By mode of omissions, Anthony H. Gamboa, wide counsel of the GAO, said that the advertisement failed to enactment that radical mightiness beryllium charged $30 for the caller cause discount cards “and that savings whitethorn alteration crossed covered drugs.” He further criticized the flyer’s denotation that beneficiaries would wage a premium of “about $35 a month” for the medicine cause benefit, erstwhile successful information that was an estimated average.

“The omissions notwithstanding, we bash not find the contented of the flyer and its screen missive oregon the advertisements to beryllium purely partisan successful usurpation of the publicity oregon propaganda prohibition,” Gamboa wrote.

“This is not to accidental that the contented is wholly escaped of governmental tone,” helium added. “Without a doubt, the aboriginal of the Medicare programme is the taxable of ongoing and highly spirited treatment and statement astatine the nationalist level. In this context, the references successful the flyer and people and tv advertisements to ‘Same Medicare. More Benefits’ and ‘preserve and strengthen’ whitethorn look to immoderate arsenic an effort to transportation the nationalist to the Administration’s constituent of presumption regarding the recently enacted benefit.”

Nonetheless, helium wrote, the “publicity oregon propaganda prohibition, however, does not barroom materials that whitethorn person immoderate governmental contented oregon explicit enactment for a peculiar view. … The contented of these publications does not represent a purely partisan message.”

Two months later, however, GAO said during the people of its investigation, “we learned that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services … had prepared arsenic portion of this run video quality releases oregon VNRs, including a quality communicative for tv broadcast, to supply accusation to the tv medium.” Because the prepackaged stories did not enactment they had been prepared by CMS, the GAO concluded their usage ”violated the regularisation connected utilizing appropriated funds for publicity oregon propaganda purposes.”

The White House further noted that successful 2002, the Bush medication paid much than $3 cardinal for 2 Super Bowl ads that said buying amerciable drugs could assistance enactment terrorists; it besides created anti-drug YouTube ads successful 2006.

---

Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not judge advertising. We trust connected grants and idiosyncratic donations from radical similar you. Please see a donation. Credit paper donations whitethorn beryllium made through our “Donate” page. If you similar to springiness by check, nonstop to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, P.O. Box 58100, Philadelphia, PA 19102. 

The station Experts Question the White House’s Defense of Taxpayer-Funded Ads appeared archetypal connected FactCheck.org.