Backlash forces Trump to pay for TV ads featuring himself

US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would pay for television advertisements himself or with money raised ‌from the Maga political committee after pushback over the use of taxpayer-funded television ads featuring him just before the November congressional elections.

Ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties ⁠have criticised the three nationally broadcast ads, which ‌celebrate a “golden age of America”.

Lawmakers have questioned whether public funds are being used ‌to promote Trump politically, while other ⁠critics ⁠say the spots may violate long-standing restrictions on government propaganda and ‌political activity.

The White House and Trump had vigorously defended the ads as simply patriotic public service announcements similar to ones done by previous presidents. But they still elicited criticism from both parties.

In ⁠a Truth Social post, Trump said he considered ‌the ads ‌to be “a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A” but that they would no longer be funded by taxpayers.

“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,” Trump wrote, with “them” referring to what he called the “Radical Left”.

One ad features Trump declaring that “America will never ‌be a communist ‌country” while a chorus repeats the ‌words “love me”. Another combines images of Mount Rushmore ⁠with footage of Trump praising a “golden age of America”.