'God made Trump': Inside White House's $20 million ad campaign ahead of midterms
The Trump administration utilized $20 million in taxpayer funds to produce campaign-style advertisements promoting the President's policies and image. Critics from both political parties have questioned the ethical use of public funds for content that functions as political promotion.
Why it matters
It highlights ongoing debates regarding the misuse of government resources for political branding and the blurring lines between public service announcements and campaign advertising.
The Trump administration has produced at least 13 campaign-style advertisements as part of a multimillion-dollar effort funded by US taxpayers to promote President Donald Trump and his policies ahead of midterm votings.Several of the ads have not yet aired. They include three focused on the US military and operations in Iran and Venezuela, one titled “God Made Trump” and another featuring Trump's UFC event at the White House.The spending has drawn criticism from both Republicans and Democrats, who have questioned whether taxpayer money should be used for such advertising. The White House has defended the campaign by describing the videos as public service announcements.CNN obtained clips of 12 ads, ranging from 15 seconds to three minutes. Two of those had already been broadcast. The clips were stored in a Dropbox account run by LMD, the agency awarded the government contract for the advertising campaign, and were shared with CNN.
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