President Donald Trump said this week that American taxpayers will no longer foot the bill for a string of television ads praising his administration, reversing course after a rare bipartisan backlash over the spots just weeks before the midterm elections.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, Trump said future versions of the ads — which highlight what he calls a "golden age of America" — would be paid for out of his own pocket or by his political operation, MAGA Inc., rather than by federal agencies. Pressed by reporters the next day on whether he would reimburse the government for ads that already aired, Trump demurred: "So we'll decide."

Millions in federal money, little disclosure

The ads, which closed with the disclaimer "Paid for by the U.S. government," ran during NFL broadcasts and other prime programming as recently as Sunday. Congressional Democrats say the spots were financed with roughly $20 million diverted from Department of Homeland Security funds, though independent ad-tracking estimates of actual airtime spending have ranged from about $1.5 million to $5.5 million and climbing. One spot features Trump declaring "America will never be a communist country"; another pairs Mount Rushmore footage with his praise of the country's trajectory, closely echoing a 2024 campaign ad.

The spending drew complaints from both sides of the aisle. Reps. Jamie Raskin and George Whitesides asked the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether the ads violate the Hatch Act and federal statutes barring the use of appropriated funds for "publicity or propaganda." The watchdog group Public Citizen filed a formal complaint making similar claims.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican, told reporters the ads "shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars", and fellow South Dakota Republican Mike Rounds said it wasn't something he would have done. Former Bush administration ethics counsel Richard Painter was blunter.

"Sheer propaganda." — Richard Painter, former White House ethics counsel under President George W. Bush

Democrats went further. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Trump to return the money and demanded a full investigation, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the spending "a staggering misuse of public funding and breach of public trust." The White House has defended the spots as legitimate public service announcements. Communications director Steven Cheung dismissed the criticism, and FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, a Trump appointee, rejected calls to investigate, arguing the ads contain no explicit call to vote for any candidate.

The episode lands a month before the November 3 midterms, as Republicans defend narrow majorities in both chambers amid economic anxiety. Legal experts told the Associated Press that the ads' lack of any specific government program or benefit — unlike typical PSAs — makes the propaganda argument harder for the White House to dismiss.

What happens next remains unsettled. Neither the GAO nor the Office of Special Counsel has said whether it will open a formal inquiry, and the White House still hasn't said whether it will reimburse the government for ads that already aired, or disclosed exactly which agency accounts paid for them. Future spots, Trump said, will run on his own dime or MAGA Inc.'s — a political committee that reported more than $400 million on hand as of late July — meaning the ads themselves are likely to keep airing through Election Day, just under a different funding line.