President Donald Trump must answer to a federal judge by Sunday over what Democrats call an “illegal propaganda campaign” of TV ads paid for by taxpayers.
U.S. District Judge Loren L. AliKhan issued the order Friday, the same day the Democratic National Committee asked her to halt the ads, court records show.
AliKhan also scheduled a hearing for Thursday. The defendants include Trump, the White House Office, the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the DNC’s motion.
Since Sept. 23, the administration has aired five ads that end with the words “Paid for by the U.S. Government,” the filing says.
“President Trump directed illegal use of government funds to develop and air political propaganda, in an attempt to resuscitate his historically low approval ratings and influence the November 2026 elections. … The campaign is unprecedented in modern American history precisely because it is a clear violation of federal law,” the DNC’s lawyers wrote.
According to the filing, OMB shifted $20 million that Congress gave Customs and Border Protection, a DHS agency, for honoring border security work, such as memorials for officers killed in the line of duty.
CBP then signed a $20 million contract with LMD Agency for a “National Media Campaign,” the motion says, and an estimated $11 million had been spent by Oct. 5.
The filing calls one spot, which the DNC labels the Final Battle ad, “the most flagrant offender.” It says the ad is nearly identical to a 2024 Trump campaign ad, except that it ends with the government disclaimer instead of his campaign logo.
“This is the final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the Deep State,” Trump says in the black-and-white ad as he walks down a hallway, according to the filing.
“This is an advertisement about President Trump. The viewer sees only him,” the lawyers argued. “It also bears no connection to official functions of the President. It is publicity and propaganda.”
“President Trump is not on the ballot and there is no call to action,” the White House said in a Sept. 25 press release defending the ads as public service announcements.
After weeks of criticism from both parties, Trump announced on social media Oct. 5 that the government would stop paying for the ads, according to the filing. It says MAGA Inc., a super PAC he effectively controls, would cover them instead.
The ads were still running with the government disclaimer hours later, the DNC told the court. The Final Battle ad aired Oct. 6 during “Dancing with the Stars” and again the next morning on “Fox & Friends.”
“The Trump Administration’s illegal propaganda campaign harms the DNC by forcing the DNC and its members (including Democratic candidates) to compete in unlawfully structured elections,” the motion argues.
“For every taxpayer dollar President Trump spends on his propaganda campaign, it is a dollar that MAGA Inc. can instead invest in paid media, get-out-the vote efforts, and direct voter communications,” Liberty Schneider, the DNC’s deputy executive director, wrote in a sworn statement.
The White House has given LMD Agency more ads that have not aired yet, and they carry the same government disclaimer, the filing says. One is “God Made Trump,” made by supporters of his 2024 campaign.
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