There are two lines U.S. government officials should never cross, especially the Trump administration.
One is the line passing off political promotion and propaganda advertising as paid announcements to the public. Another is the line separating a president’s authority from government retaliation against journalists whose reporting he dislikes.
The Trump administration has dangerously violated both those barriers.
The first problem comes with a giant bill attached. Trump has spent nearly $1.5 million in taxpayer money on three TV and streaming political advertisements that the White House wrongly insists are public-service announcements. Now, The Department of Homeland Security has tapped another $20 million in taxpayer dollars to pay for the campaign-style ads glamorizing Trump.
You only have to watch the ads to clearly see Trump and his regime are lying about them being just a typical administration public-information reel.
One of the ads promotes Trump’s dubious claims about tax cuts, manufacturing and law enforcement. Another ad features his political digs into critics and political opponents surrounding the nation’s 250th anniversary. The third ad is described by the Associated Press as virtually identical to a 2024 Trump re-election campaign advertisement, including his language about a “final battle” against “globalists” and “warmongers.” All three ads end with the declaration, “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
It’s easy to see Trump’s desperate need for propaganda and spin. An AP poll released Thursday reveals that only 17% of Americans approve of his handling problems associated with the cost of living. His approval ratings are so low they near the ratio of his veracity versus spin and lies when he speaks publicly.
These ads are an illegal abuse of public money and trust that is stock and trade for dictatorships in Russia, China and Iran. The debacle is the antithesis of what the U.S. Constitution clearly states and intends.
Previous administrations have produced taxpayer-funded public-service announcements. The White House points to Republican and Democratic examples involving Medicare, Affordable Care Act subsidies and COVID-19 vaccinations. But legal experts cited by the AP say those campaigns differ in a very critical respect. They were intended to help Americans understand or access particular government programs. Instead, these Trump advertisements shamelessly promote Trump and his political themes and schemes.
This isn’t just a partisan complaint. Republican lawmakers have raised the same alarms. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the advertising should not be paid for with taxpayer dollars. Sen. Mike Rounds also threw shade on the shams. Sen. John Kennedy said public officials should not spend public money on private political advertisements boosting themselves.
The legal implication isn’t trivial. Experts told the AP that the advertisements are at odds with federal restrictions on using congressionally appropriated funds for “publicity or propaganda” and on partisan political activity by government employees.
Trump is violating the law, and he’s lying about it.
All this in the shadow of trying to undermine the press.
CNN, MS NOW and Politico have gone to federal court after being banished from White House access. Their lawyers argue that the restrictions constitute retaliation and viewpoint discrimination based on coverage the administration dislikes, something the Constitution, federal law and court case history address and rebuke. A federal judge temporarily restored their access and made clear his skepticism that national security was the administration’s actual motivation for rejecting the three media outlets.
The White House says access to the president is a privilege, not a right. That argument does not settle the constitutional question.
The First Amendment certainly does not promise journalists favorable treatment from presidents. It does, however, protect freedom of the press. And when government officials control access to the presidency, the distinction between managing logistics and punishing disfavored reporting becomes enormously consequential.
Put the two schemes together and the debacle grows too large and serious to ignore.
Public money being used for political propaganda while government access is being wielded against news organizations whose coverage the administration disputes has all the red lights flashing on the nation’s dashboard.
A democracy depends on transparency, accountability and the government knowing that taxpayer money belongs to the public, not to the political fortunes of whoever occupies the Oval Office. It also depends upon presidents understanding that a free press is not a privilege granted by the administration in power.
Those behavioral lines exist for a reason. Trump has crossed them and imperiled the public and out form of government.
Both the House and Senate should immediately vote to force Trump to end his schemes and follow the law and Constitution and strengthen and clarify laws to protect the nation from Trump and future rogue presidents.