'Last battle': White House calls spots 'patriotic public service ads'; watchdog says they may violate rules barring use of taxpayer money for political propaganda

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US President Donald Trump attends a golf tournament in Medina, Illinois, on Sunday (local time). [AP]
US President Donald Trump attends a golf tournament in Medina, Illinois, on Sunday (local time). [AP]

The White House has aired government-funded advertisements promoting President Donald Trump and targeting the opposition Democratic Party just five weeks before November's midterm elections, CNN reported Sunday (local time).

According to CNN, the ad ran during at least two NFL games broadcast by Fox that day — the Washington Commanders vs. Seattle Seahawks matchup and the Carolina Panthers vs. Cleveland Browns game.

The roughly 30-second spot opens with footage of Trump walking down a hallway as his voice declares, "This is the final battle."

"Together with you, we will dismantle the deep state, drive out the warmongers in our government," Trump says in the ad. "We will expel the globalists, and we will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists."

Trump has sought to rally his base by labeling Democratic Socialists — a left-wing faction that has gained ground in Democratic primary elections this year — as "communists" who must be rooted out.

The ad closely mirrors a campaign video Trump released on Truth Social in January 2024. That earlier video ended with his presidential campaign logo and a text-messaging number, whereas the new ad carries a disclaimer stating it was paid for by the US government.

It is the third television advertisement the Trump administration has produced and aired in recent weeks.

A spot that began airing Wednesday features rapid-cut images and audio of Trump declaring, "Together we will defeat communism, socialism and Marxism."

A second, roughly one-minute ad draws from a speech Trump delivered at Mount Rushmore in South Dakota — where four former presidents are carved into the mountainside — on the eve of the nation's 250th Independence Day celebration on July 3.

The White House pushed back on characterizations of the spots as campaign advertising, insisting they are public service announcements.

"These ads are educational and unapologetically patriotic," a White House spokesperson said in a statement, according to CNN. "We should be proud of our country."

The government watchdog group Common Cause said the ads may have violated rules prohibiting the use of taxpayer money for political propaganda.

"You don't have to be a legal scholar to ask why a president would use taxpayer dollars to promote his own image so close to an election," Carol Evans, Common Cause's deputy director for policy, told CNN.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com