President Donald Trump's $1.28 Million Taxpayer-Funded 'Final Battle' Ad Campaign Sparks Bipartisan Legal Concerns Ahead of Midterms

Donald Trump's midterm election ads are raising bipartisan doubts about whether the $1.28 million campaign is actually legal.

An old 30-second ad from 2023 showing Trump walking menacingly in black-and-white as he warns against various threats like “the deep state,” “warmongers,” “communists” and “fascists” has been repurposed by Trump for the 2026 midterms — only this time, the ad is "paid for by the U.S. government."

"Paid for by the U.S. government" means the ad was paid for by taxpayers. It aired twice during football games on Sunday, September 27, and has appeared on news stations as well. According to AdImpact, the spots cost $362,000.

A second taxpayer-funded ad played the JMSN song "Love Me" over a photo montage of Trump and racked up a bill over over $920,000. The music usage was not cleared by JMSN, adding to a lengthy list of Trump-related media and social posts that grabs music without the artist's approval.

The ads are being pushed out as part of Trump's idea to make the midterms about himself in an effort to boost Republicans' brutal prospects — an interesting gambit, given Trump is suffering from record low approval ratings.

GOP Trump critics have sounded the alarm over the media blitz.

"Don’t worry, using taxpayer dollars to run ominous campaign ads of the President has been done before and is completely legal… in banana republics,” tweeted Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie.

“I don’t think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves,” added Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy. (Noem was infamously fired as Homeland Security Secretary in part because she used taxpayer funds to create flattering ads about herself.)

Sen. Thom Tillis compared the move to those of far-right dictators, such as Turkiye's Victor Orbán.

Democrats also sternly criticized the ads.

In a September 24 letter, Appropriations Committee Democrats demanded the "Love Me" ad be taken off the air, calling it “the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and illegal misuse of Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”

Sen. Maggie Hassan wrote a letter the same day to White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and said the same ad “does not have a clear official government purpose and appears to run afoul of federal prohibitions.”

The law bans the use of taxpayer funds to produce “publicity or propaganda.”

The White House defended the ads by calling them "public service announcements" — arguing that because they didn't have a call to action, they "weren't political."

A spokesperson told TIME the ads were "about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.”

They also complained that they're being singled out.

"When prior Administrations utilized the airwaves, it was called ‘public education,’" they said. "When this Administration promotes pride in our country, many of those same voices call it ‘propaganda.’”