Donald Trump is refusing to reimburse taxpayers for millions that he has already blown on his propaganda blitz.
The 80-year-old president announced Monday that his super PAC would pick up the tab for his commercials after bipartisan criticism over the government-funded spots promoting him weeks before the midterms.
But White House officials have now told Politico that Trump’s pledge does not extend to the millions of dollars already spent.
And the administration then dropped yet another bombastic installment Tuesday.
The minute-long commercial celebrates the U.S. operation that captured Nicolás Maduro.
Spliced with high-octane footage of fighter jets and explosions, it features Trump, 80, standing alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, as they boast about removing the Venezuelan leader.
Trump’s government has spent an estimated $11.6 million on more than a dozen of the so-called “Patriotic Ads,” according to advertising analytics firm AdImpact, with the money reportedly coming through a $20 million Department of Homeland Security contract.
The extraordinary collection of commercials also includes one titled “God Made Trump” and another closely modeled on an advertisement from Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign—except this version ends by telling viewers it was paid for by the U.S. government.
Republicans, including Sens. John Kennedy, John Cornyn and Thom Tillis, joined Democrats in objecting to taxpayers funding the president’s promo campaign.
Trump defended the commercials outside the White House Tuesday. “The ads were really good. They were promotion for the country,” he told reporters. “Done by many presidents before, so we’ll decide.”
The White House has compared the campaign with government advertising under previous presidents promoting programs including Medicare prescription drug coverage, Obamacare and COVID vaccinations.
It has also insisted Trump’s spots are not campaign advertisements because he is not personally on November’s ballot and they contain no explicit instruction to vote.
Officials have not said whether the administration intends to spend any of the taxpayer money still remaining under the existing contract before Trump’s super PAC takes over the bill.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
