Democrats have sued Donald Trump over taxpayer-funded television advertisements they allege were used to promote his political agenda and improve Republican prospects in the November 3 midterm elections.
The Democratic National Committee filed its complaint in Washington DC, arguing that the president directed the White House to redirect $20 million approved by Congress for commemorative activities linked to border security, including tributes to officers killed in the line of duty.
Ken Martin, the DNC chairman, said: “Donald Trump is misusing millions of taxpayer dollars to fund pure propaganda ads in a last-ditch attempt to save Republicans in November.”
Common Cause, a democracy watchdog group, brought a separate case later on Wednesday in the Southern District of New York. It said the advertisements were “overtly political” and breached laws prohibiting the use of public money for political propaganda.
“These ads are not public-service announcements,” the group said in its complaint, referring to Trump’s description of the campaign. “They are personal publicity and political propaganda through and through.”
Both lawsuits claim the spending breached the separation of powers by allowing the executive branch to use money in a way Congress had not authorised. They also cite a provision in federal appropriations legislation barring taxpayer funds from being used for “publicity or propaganda purposes”.
The complaints ask courts to declare the advertising campaign unlawful, halt further spending and order the recovery of money already used to broadcast the adverts.
The campaign began airing in September and has cost more than $12 million so far, according to media tracking firm AdImpact. The $20 million allocation came from a $175 million package assigned to the Department of Homeland Security as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement programme.
Three adverts have been broadcast. One features a choir singing “love me” alongside footage of Trump, who says the United States will “never be a communist country”. Another shows Mount Rushmore as he describes a new “golden age of America”.
The third uses black-and-white footage of Trump walking towards the camera while warning of a “final battle” against the “deep state” and other opponents. Critics have also said that one of the adverts closely resembles a television spot from Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign.
A Reuters and Ipsos poll released on Wednesday found that 86 per cent of those surveyed, including four in five Republicans, considered it inappropriate for Trump to have used public money for the advertisements.
Trump has defended the campaign as “promotion for the country”, arguing that previous administrations had issued similar public outreach adverts. Following bipartisan criticism, he said on Monday that taxpayer money would not be used for future adverts, but did not pledge to repay what had already been spent.
Some Republicans have criticised the campaign. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said the adverts resembled material produced by former Hungarian leader Viktor Orban, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune said one advert’s message was acceptable but “it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars”.
