Donald Trump said on Monday he would pay for taxpayer-funded, pro-Trump ads “with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.”, a political action committee, after the television advertisements glorifying himself sparked a major backlash.
In a social media post, Trump characterized the ads, which cost at least $۱.۵m in federal funds, as “a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A.” and called them “a rather standard thing to do”.
Maga Inc is Trump’s political war chest, which had amassed more than $۴۰۰m by the end of July. Trump has begun to tap it to boost Republican candidates across the US ahead of midterm elections.
Trump provided no details on reimbursing taxpayers for ads that already aired, nor how he would go about having his political organization pay for such advertising.
The White House – which had fiercely defended using taxpayer money on spots meant to promote the president – said Monday night Maga Inc would pay for such ads in the future. It did not answer questions on how it or Trump might prove that his political funds were being used on any ads.
California senator Adam Schiff called for the White House to show proof it had stopped using taxpayer dollars to fund the ads.
“Let’s see the proof this illegal waste of your taxes is over for good. And that he pays the money back. We don’t want the U.S. taxpayers to be the latest contractors to get stiffed,” Schiff said in a social media post.
Trump’s abrupt about-face came after leaders from both parties criticized using taxpayer funds.
Last week, two congressional Democrats asked federal watchdogs to investigate whether the Trump administration illegally used taxpayer money to air the television spots that began airing in late September.
Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the House judiciary committee, and California congressman George Whitesides wrote to the government accountability office (GAO) and the office of special counsel (OSC), describing the commercials as “desperate pre-election propaganda”.
Legal experts said the ads might even violate federal statutes, including a law against congressionally appropriated funds being used for “publicity or propaganda” and one limiting the partisan political activities of government employees.
The first ad featured clips of Trump talking about defeating communism interspersed with onscreen text promoting the “largest tax cuts in history”, “reigniting American manufacturing” and a call to “defend law and order and police”.
Later the same week, a second ad began running. It showed scenic videos of Mount Rushmore with quotes and clips from Trump’s Fourth of July weekend speech there honoring the country’s ۲۵۰th anniversary.
A third, more recent one was virtually identical to an ad for Trump’s Republican reelection campaign in ۲۰۲۴ and showed him walking down a hallway as his voice can be heard warning of a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers”.
All ended with a message: “Paid for by the US government.”
According to AdImpact, which tracks media spending, the spots had cost at least $۱.۴m by the end of September. The actual amount spent could be far more, depending on whether networks classified the ad as a political ad.
