Trump says his super PAC will pay for taxpayer-funded ads that sparked backlash for glorifying him
President Donald Trump has committed to using his super PAC funds for future advertisements after facing backlash for using taxpayer money for promotional spots. Legal experts have suggested that the initial use of federal funds may have violated laws against government propaganda.
Why it matters
This incident highlights the tension between executive power and the legal restrictions on using public funds for political self-promotion.
President Donald Trump said Monday (October 5, 2026) that he will stop using taxpayer funds for television advertisements glorifying himself that sparked a major backlash, and instead tap his super PAC to cover costs going forward.
In a post on his social media site, Mr. Trump defended the ads, which cost at least $1.5 million in federal funds and have drawn intense criticism. Mr. Trump said they were “positive promotion for our Great USA.”
“This is a rather standard thing to do,” the president wrote, while blaming intense criticism for using taxpayer funds on the ads on the “Radical Left.” But the president added that he'd “decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc."
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