Government officials from both parties are urging the Government Accountability Office to investigate the legality of President Trump’s recent taxpayer-funded advertisements.
On Sept. 23, an advertisement aired, praising Trump’s policy goals and initiatives, on Fox News. Three more advertisements have since been broadcast across Fox News, NBC, and other mainstream cable networks, all ending with a typed message reading “Paid for by the United States Government.” According to AdImpact, an organization tracking brand marketing costs, more than $10 million in taxpayer dollars have been used to air these four advertisements as of Oct. 5.
These advertisements promote several of the Trump administration’s policy goals. They describe President Trump’s policies as enacting the “largest tax cuts in history,” “reigniting American manufacturing,” and “defend[ing] law and order.” Alongside these praises of the MAGA movement, they criticize political opponents, the “deep state,” communism, and “warmongers.”
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is now being asked to determine whether the use of taxpayer dollars for federal administration advertising initiatives violates federal law. The GAO outlines three activities prohibited under the federal government’s ‘publicity-or-propaganda’ restriction: self-aggrandizement, covert propaganda, and purely partisan materials. The investigation would need to find direct violations of any one of these tenets to penalize the Trump administration.
In a letter to the GAO and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, representatives from the House of Representatives asked for an investigation into the advertisements, citing federal laws and provisions.
“Your agencies have an important responsibility to hold accountable members of the Trump Administration who violate the laws and policies under your purview,” the letter reads.
A central question pressing on both sides of the political spectrum is whether these advertisements are standard government communications or if they cross a line into illegal actions and propaganda.
Yet regardless of propaganda claims, the spread of misinformation continues to be an issue in the Trump administration. There have been many instances in which fact-checking published articles has led to the discovery of obvious lies praising the Trump administration’s initiatives.
One advertisement claims the administration will “defeat communism, socialism and Marxism” and states that “America will never be a communist country.” However, President Trump is incredibly friendly with Kim Jong Un, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin, who are leaders of countries that practice the very economic models he claims to condemn.
Another claims the administration is “reigniting American manufacturing,” but since President Trump has taken office, over 10,000 manufacturing workers have lost their jobs. Likewise, these advertisements state that President Trump is “defending law and order,” while at least 21 people have been shot by federal agents as a result of the administration’s immigration crackdown. Additionally, all of these victims have been denied their right to habeas corpus, which requires fair trials for all imprisoned persons, and due process, both fundamental tenets of American law and order.
Furthermore, they claim to “expel the warmongers from our government,” though Trump’s war with Iran has taken the lives of at least 22 American service members.
The White House has defended the advertisements by arguing that presidential Public Service Announcements are not new, as previous presidents have used government-funded advertisements to communicate with the American public. They cite George W. Bush’s promotion of Medicare, Barack Obama’s promotion of the Affordable Care Act, and Joe Biden’s campaign for the COVID-19 vaccine, among others.
However, the major distinction between this ad campaign and past presidential ad campaigns is that the past examples provided information about government programs or services, and how to access them. The Trump administration advertisements do not explain how Americans can access, benefit from, or understand a government program.
Following this controversy and investigation, Trump announced that his political organization and political action committee (PAC), MAGA Inc., would pay for future advertisements, as opposed to taxpayer money. However, this does not dispel legal questioning, as holders of federal office are restricted from directing the spending decisions of a political organization or a super PAC.
The Government Accountability Office’s review could ultimately determine whether the advertisements violated federal restrictions on government-funded publicity and constitute propaganda. Until then, this controversy continues to raise questions about how far the administration can go in promoting its policies and what standards should apply when these advertisements make untrue claims about legislative records.
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