US judge bars showing of taxpayer-funded Trump ads

A US federal judge in Manhattan, New York, Jennifer Rochon, on Sunday temporarily barred President Donald Trump's administration from using government money to pay for political advertising. The taxpayer-funded television spots praising Trump began airing in late September and drew opposition from both major US political parties. The ruling matters because the ads ran in the final weeks before the 3 November midterm elections.

The lawsuit

The case was brought by several plaintiffs, including the civic group Common Cause, a public-sector workers' union and a candidate running for the Alabama state House of Representatives. They argued that the ads were political propaganda meant to support Republican candidates in the midterms rather than an information campaign. The plaintiffs had asked Rochon to pause the ads by Friday so they would not run during weekend programming such as football broadcasts and Saturday Night Live.

A separate filing submitted to the court on Saturday said the Trump administration had planned to stop showing the ads even before Rochon's decision.

Reactions

On Monday, Trump said the ads were "positive support for our great America" but would no longer be paid for by taxpayers. The White House said this week that the ads would in future be funded by the president's political committee, MAGA PAC. It also said the committee would not reimburse taxpayers for the costs of spots already broadcast. The ads end with a note saying they were paid for by the US government.

Virginia Kase Solomon, president and CEO of Common Cause, said the group would not stop until the administration was held fully accountable, and that no president should be able to waste or abuse taxpayer money on propaganda. The US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ruling.

Democrats have also challenged the ads in a separate lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington.