Trump Won’t Reimburse Taxpayers for Ads Promoting Himself Paid for by Government

Por Chris Walker — Truthout

Trump has spent at least $10 million in taxpayer funds on TV ads ahead of the midterm elections.

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White House staffers indicated on Tuesday that President Donald Trump will not be reimbursing the government for the millions of dollars in taxpayer funds he has used to produce promotional TV ads ahead of this year’s midterm elections.

In a post on Monday, Trump indicated that he would not use taxpayer funds to produce future commercials. Despite pressure from both sides of the political aisle, Trump blamed progressives for complaining about the ads, which conclude with the tag, “Paid for by the U.S. government.”

“The Radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking Ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A., and paying for them with U.S.A. money,” he wrote on Truth Social. “This is a rather standard thing to do but, rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.”

A White House aide said on Tuesday that the president’s social media post “was not referring to reimbursement.”

As of Monday, at least $10.1 million had already been spent funding the television spots. The White House has not indicated whether it will continue using the full $20 million that had originally been allocated from federal government sources.

Trump’s plan to use a super PAC to fund future ads is questionable, as it is illegal for a president to direct how a super PAC affiliated with them spends its funds.

The administration has tried to justify the ads by describing them as “public service announcements.” But the commercials largely feature Trump and his speeches from campaign events during the 2024 presidential race. Within the ad, he attacks so-called “communists” and “Marxists” — terms he has errantly used to describe Democrats in the past, making it difficult to describe the ads as non-partisan promotions of the country.

Trump is wrong in claiming that “radical leftists” are the only group of people who take issue with the ads. According to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll, 86 percent of Americans say the ads are inappropriate, while only 9 percent say they support the use of taxpayer dollars to fund them. That includes four in five Republican-leaning voters in the poll who disagree with the ads being funded by the government.

One former Republican White House ethics lawyer said the ads could be grounds for impeachment.

“This is very dangerous. We do not allow government-sponsored propaganda in the United States,” said Richard Painter, who served during the administration of former President George W. Bush, adding that the ads are an “abuse of power” that could amount to “an impeachable offense.”

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Chris Walker is a news writer at Truthout, based in Madison, Wisconsin. Focusing on both national and local topics since the early 2000s, he has produced thousands of articles analyzing the issues of the day and their impact on people. He can be found on most social media platforms under the handle @thatchriswalker.

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Fonte: Truthout