The Trump administration kept airing its taxpayer-funded TV ads hundreds of times after a federal judge ordered them off the air at about 6:45 p.m. ET Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026.
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon of the Southern District of New York issued that order, which told the administration to cancel the remaining airings, including spots booked for that Sunday night. A Justice Department lawyer apologized Monday, Oct. 12, for the delay in complying.
Common Cause, one of the plaintiffs, said 32 of the roughly 570 airings that followed the order ran on Monday, Oct. 12.
An Email Opened Too Late
The Justice Department said in a court filing that agency lawyers did not know about the order until that morning. Government counsel forwarded the order to those lawyers on Sunday night, the department said, and the lawyers did not see the email until the next morning. The Department of Homeland Security then notified its advertising contractor.
The government says it is now in compliance.
Two of the ads, “Final Battle” and “Maduro,” aired hundreds of times after the 6:45 p.m. deadline, according to AdImpact data reviewed by CNN. A third, “The Country He Loves,” aired most recently at 12:17 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12.
Rochon also ordered the administration to tell its contractor, LMD Agency Inc., to follow the ruling. Her original order ran 14 days. On Wednesday, Oct. 14, the judge extended the order through Nov. 8, a date that falls after the Nov. 3 election. A Nov. 4 hearing will take up a longer-lasting order.
Rochon, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, found the coalition was likely to win the case and said the injunction was in the public interest.
Common Cause, a nonpartisan watchdog, brought the case along with Robert Hunter, a Democratic candidate for a seat in the Alabama state House. Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and the union’s political action committee, Empire State 32BJ SEIU PAC, are plaintiffs as well. Democracy Forward, Campaign Legal Center Action and Public Integrity Project Action represent them. Named as defendants in the suit are the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Office of Management and Budget and the Executive Office of the President, with the plaintiffs arguing that public money was used to tilt the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
A $20 Million Purchase Order
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) sent LMD Agency Inc. a $20 million purchase order on Sept. 20. The money came from funds available for, among other things, “commemorating efforts and events related to border security.”
LMD bought about $19 million in media buys through Sunday, Oct. 11, according to a sworn declaration filed Saturday, Oct. 10, by Holly Mehringer, a senior Homeland Security official. Mehringer said the agency had no plans to buy more.
CBS, ABC, ESPN, CNN, MS NOW, Fox News, Fox and Newsmax all carried the spots. They turned up during NFL games and shows including “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” The administration classified them as public service announcements, and they end with a disclaimer saying the U.S. government paid for them.
One ad shows President Donald Trump talking about the threat of communism. One 30-second spot features Trump’s voice condemning communism, socialism and Marxism set to the song “Love Me” by JMSN; the musician said the White House had not received his permission to use the music. Another replays an ad from his last presidential campaign. Tuesday, Oct. 6, brought the first airing of a spot on the administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. CNN reported that the administration has created at least 13 campaign-style ads.
Other spots have not aired yet. One recaps the UFC fight Trump hosted at the White House. One is called “God Made Trump.” Another shows lions hunting alongside images of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Trump personally drove the ad campaign and helped select imagery and videos, according to a source familiar with the matter. Two Trump advisers said the White House video team created the ads in-house, and a pro-Trump meme group produced at least one of them.
Trump Offers to Cover the Cost
Republicans as well as Democrats complained about the ads. Reporters heard this from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.: “It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” he said.
A Truth Social post from Trump on Oct. 5 called the commercials good promotion for the country and described using government money for them as a normal thing to do. He added in that same post that he would instead cover the cost himself with money he raised for MAGA Inc., his super PAC.
Future ads would be paid for by MAGA Inc., the White House said. No immediate plans existed to pay the government back for what had already run, according to a White House official.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin gave no indication the money would be returned when he was pressed on whether taxpayer dollars would be refunded during an appearance Sunday, Oct. 11, on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.” “Anytime we can do a public service announcement and brag about America, I’m all about it,” Mullin said.
The White House has defended the spots as public service announcements like those of past administrations. These ads stand apart from many such spots, since they are not aimed at helping people use a specific government program. Legal experts have said the spending may violate a federal statute barring money appropriated by Congress from being used for publicity or propaganda.
Running Out the Clock, Watchdog Says
The Justice Department told the court in a filing Saturday, Oct. 10, that the ads were set to stop the next day, making a restraining order unnecessary. Whether the ads were legal in the first place was a question the department sidestepped. In filings, it conceded that the ads attack a generic list of “villains” and emphasized that they did not “address any specific race, electoral candidate, or party.”
Common Cause told the judge the promise to stop soon was an attempt to run out the clock. The group also said the department ignored her request for details on the roles Trump and the White House played in the campaign. “We won’t stop until this administration is held fully accountable,” Common Cause CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said.
A separate suit over the ads came from the Democratic National Committee on Oct. 7. It asks a judge in Washington, D.C., to stop the president from using taxpayer money to promote himself. As of Oct. 15, a hearing in that case was scheduled for Thursday morning in federal court in Washington.