(AP) – U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, the chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, is grilling the Trump administration about its recent spate of taxpayer-funded television advertisements.
The Maine Republican has asked the White House and the Office of Management and Budget for “a full accounting of any expenditures” used to make the ads, a committee spokesperson said Tuesday.
It remains unclear what part of the administration is funding the three ads, which glorify President Donald Trump and are nearing at least $1.5 million in public spending.
Criticism against the ads has mounted, including from members of Trump’s own party. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., on Monday said the ads “shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”
The White House has defended the ads, saying they are public service announcements like those of past administrations.
Multiple legal experts consulted by The Associated Press said the ads appear to run afoul of federal statutes, including a law against congressionally appropriated funds being used for “publicity or propaganda” and a law that limits the partisan political activities of government employees.
They said the new ads, which are airing on network and cable TV and streaming, differ from other administrations’ PSAs because they aren’t designed to help Americans access any specific program.
The content of the advertisements
The first ad in the campaign, which began airing last Wednesday, features 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 in the week, a second ad began running, showing scenic videos of Mount Rushmore at night with quotes and clips from Trump’s Fourth of July weekend speech there honoring the country’s 250th anniversary.
The latest of the ads, a spot first aired over the weekend, is virtually identical to an ad for Trump’s Republican reelection campaign in 2024. It shows him walking down a hallway as his voice can be heard warning of a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers.”
All three ads end with a message that says: “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
