Trump hedges on paying back government for ads that already aired

President Donald Trump hedged Tuesday when asked whether he would reimburse the U.S. government for previously aired television advertisements that praised him, saying, “We’ll decide.”

The ads cost the federal government nearly $10 million before Trump on Monday announced that he and his political action committee will pay for the segments in the face of criticism that they are propaganda and aimed at helping Republican political candidates.

The White House later Monday clarified that the super PAC — MAGA Inc. — will pay for what it calls public service announcements going forward, and not for the ads that have already aired. The prior airings reportedly were funded from a pool of up to $20 million set aside by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Asked whether he would reimburse the government for the costs of ads already aired, Trump told reporters, “The ads were really good.”

“They were promotion for the country, done by many presidents before,” he said. “So we’ll decide.”

Trump’s latest comments on the furor came hours after a new ad aired. That ad was labeled as paid for by the U.S. government.

The ad features video clips of Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth discussing the U.S. capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year.

“Nicolás Maduro had his chance … until he didn’t,” Hegseth says in the ad. “He effed around and he found out.” 

Another clip in the ad shows Rubio warning, “Don’t play games with [President Trump] in office.”

The ads have been running in the weeks leading up to November’s midterm election. Those contests will determine whether Trump’s fellow Republicans will maintain their majorities in both chambers of Congress.

The White House and MAGA Inc. did not immediately reply when asked whether the super PAC would cover the cost of the new ad or whether the buy had already been placed before Trump’s announcement and would remain taxpayer-funded.

“The Radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking Ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our Great U.S.A., and paying for them with U.S.A. money,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Monday.

“This is a rather standard thing to do but, rather than doing that, although nothing will make them happy, I have decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.,” Trump said.

AdImpact has tracked roughly $9.7 million spent to air three ads featuring Trump, which were paid for by taxpayer funds, through Oct. 5.

Trump’s announcement that he would pay for the ads came three days after The New York Times, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that “Trump personally instructed his budget director to use taxpayer money for TV ads praising him and his presidency.”

The Times said federal money to pay for the ads became available on Sept. 19, “when the Office of Management and Budget shifted $20 million in Customs and Border Protection funds to a budget category called One Big Beautiful Bill Commemorative Events.” Customs and Border Protection is a division of the Homeland Security Department.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., in a Sept. 24 letter to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, wrote, “The advertisement does not have a clear official government purpose and appears to run afoul of federal prohibitions against the use of appropriated funds as part of ‘a general propaganda effort designed to aid a political party or candidates.'”

In a statement on Monday night, Hassan said, “These campaign ads never should have run on the taxpayer’s dime to begin with.”

“They were clearly wrong and clearly illegal, which is why the President should also immediately repay the taxpayers for the amount already spent on these ads,” Hassan said.

“There’s a lesson here: We can’t underestimate the difference that citizens can make in our country when they speak out and hold their leaders to account,” she said.

On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called for the Government Accountability Office and Office of Special Counsel to investigate the ads.

“The government is not the President’s campaign committee, and the Treasury is not his campaign account. The federal government has no legitimate business billing the public for campaign messaging that a candidate’s political committee should pay for,” Schumer wrote in a letter.

Last week, the advocacy group Public Citizen filed a complaint urging the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and TV broadcasters to stop airing the ads. Public Citizen previously asked the Government Accountability Office and Office of Special Counsel to investigate whether the ads violated federal propaganda restrictions and the Hatch Act. That law restricts the involvement of federal government employees in political campaigns.

MAGA Inc. has raised $424.4 million and spent $32.4 million during the 2025-26 cycle through Aug. 31, leaving the Trump Super PAC with $415.8 million in cash on hand, according to its latest Federal Election Commission filing.

MAGA Inc. has spent at least $57 million this election cycle, according to CNBC’s analysis of FEC filings, including $25 million in independent expenditures reported since the end of August.