The Democratic National Committee has filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump over television ads that were allegedly publicly funded and used to promote his political agenda.
Ken Martin, who heads the Democratic Party’s leadership, suggested in a statement Wednesday that the ad was designed to boost Republicans’ advantage in the upcoming Nov. 3 midterm elections.
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“Donald Trump is misusing millions of taxpayer dollars to fund pure propaganda ads as a last resort to save the Republican Party in November,” Martin said.
Later that day, democracy watchdog group Common Cause filed a second lawsuit over the same set of ads.
The company argued that the ads were “overtly political” and therefore violated laws that prohibit public funds from being used for political advertising.
“These ads are not public service announcements,” Common Cause said in its complaint, citing the rationalization Trump offered for appearing in the TV spots. “They are thoroughly personal and political propaganda.”
Both lawsuits allege that to design the ad campaign, President Trump directed the White House to repurpose $20 million in funds appropriated by Congress for border security-related commemoration efforts, including those of those killed in the line of duty.
They argue that the operation violates the separation of powers established in the U.S. Constitution.
“More than 200 years ago, our founders made it clear that executives could spend money only at the direction of Congress,” Common Cause’s complaint says.
The two lawsuits also point out that Congress has included a provision in the spending bill that prohibits the use of taxpayer funds for “advertising or propaganda purposes.”
Both complaints ask that the ads be found illegal and that the spending be stopped. It also calls for steps to be taken to recover funds already spent on advertising.
The Democrats’ lawsuit will be filed in Washington, D.C., while Common Cause’s lawsuit will be heard in the Southern District of New York.
President Trump has faced increasing criticism over the ad, which began airing in September.
So far, the ad campaign has cost more than $12 million to run, according to media tracking firm AdImpact.
The $20 million that President Trump raised for the ad came from a $175 million package that Congress appropriated to the Department of Homeland Security as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement package.
Critics note that one of the ads looks almost identical to a TV spot that President Trump used during his 2024 re-election campaign.
Three ads have aired so far. In one song, a choir sings “I Love You” over a montage of President Trump declaring that the United States will “never become a communist country.” In another article, President Trump uses the image of Mount Rushmore to usher in a new “America’s Golden Age.”
The third is darker. Trump walked toward the camera in black and white and warned of a “final battle” against the “deep state” and other perceived enemies.
On Wednesday, Reuters and research firm Ipsos released a poll showing the ads are highly unpopular. About 86% of Americans surveyed, including four out of five Republicans, said it was inappropriate for President Trump to spend public money on them.
President Trump defended the ads as “national propaganda” and said they were similar to public awareness campaigns run by previous administrations.
But after bipartisan backlash, President Trump said Monday that he would no longer use tax dollars for future ads.
However, it did not promise to repay the amount spent on existing advertising.
President Trump’s Republican members of Congress have also voiced opposition to the ad campaign.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the ad was similar to one run by former Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader John Thune agreed with the message in one of the ads, but stressed that “taxpayers should not be paying for it.”
