Why has the Trump administration been ordered to cancel $20m TV ads praising the president?

A federal judge on Sunday (Oct. 11) ordered the Trump administration to stop airing ads funded by the US government that praise President Donald Trump. The order was effective immediately. The lawsuit was filed by a coalition comprising the watchdog group Common Cause, Democratic leader Robert Hunter, and a labor union in New York along with its political action committee. The suit was one of several such complaints that were lodged to get the controversial ads off air.

What did the judge say?

Judge Jennifer Rochon of the Southern District of New York said: "Plaintiffs have demonstrated that they are likely to succeed on the merits, will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction, the balance of the equities tips in their favor, and an injunction serves the public interest."


The judge ordered the Trump administration to cancel any ads from airing, including those set to air on Sunday night. Rochon wrote that the government was barred from using funds appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to "develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air the challenged advertisements."

In a court filing on Saturday, the Trump administration said that the DHS had placed ad purchases until Sunday and had told the vendor to not buy ads beyond that day.

How did the plaintiffs react?

"We are pleased the court acted swiftly to prevent more taxpayer dollars from being used for such blatantly unlawful political propaganda," the plaintiffs said in a statement. "There is no legal justification — and no precedent — for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda."

'Our fight continues'

Common Cause President Virginia Kase Solomón said that despite the ruling, the fight was on. "We won’t stop until this administration is held fully accountable, and no president from any party can waste and abuse taxpayer funds for propaganda ever again," Solomón said.

How much did the ads cost?

The DHS had tapped $20 million in taxpayers' money for the advertisements, which started airing in late-September, according to contract records cited by CBS News. The ads were criticized for allegedly abusing taxpayers' money to promote the political propaganda of Trump and his Republican Party.

The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements similar to what previous administrations have used to promote various policies. "The President is not on the ballot and the ads don't have a call to action," a government official said last month.