The Trump administration’s taxpayer-funded television ads kept airing 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 told the administration to cancel the remaining airings, including spots booked for that Sunday night. She also ordered officials to tell the ad contractor, LMD Agency Inc., to follow her ruling.
570 Airings After the Order
Common Cause counted 32 of the roughly 570 post-order airings on Monday, Oct. 12. Two of the ads, “Final Battle” and “Maduro,” ran hundreds of times after the 6:45 p.m. deadline, according to AdImpact data. A third ad, “The Country He Loves,” aired most recently at 12:17 p.m. Monday, Oct. 12.
A Justice Department lawyer apologized Monday, Oct. 12, for the delay in complying. The department said in a court filing that agency lawyers did not know about the order until that morning.
Government counsel forwarded the order to agency lawyers Sunday night, the department said, and those 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.
Rochon Extends Order Past Election
Rochon found that the coalition behind the suit is likely to win its case and that an injunction is in the public interest. Her original order lasted 14 days. On Wednesday, Oct. 14, she extended it through Nov. 8, after the Nov. 3 election.
She set a Nov. 4 hearing on a longer-lasting order. Rochon is an appointee of former President Joe Biden.
The plaintiffs are the nonpartisan watchdog Common Cause; 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. Democracy Forward, Campaign Legal Center Action and Public Integrity Project Action represent them. They sued the Department of Homeland Security, the Office of Management and Budget and the Executive Office of the President, arguing that public money is being used to tilt the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
The Justice Department argued in a filing on Saturday, Oct. 10, that a restraining order was unnecessary because the ads were set to stop the next day. The department sidestepped the question of whether the ads were legal in the first place. In its filings, it conceded that the ads attack a generic list of villains while emphasizing that they did not “address any specific race, electoral candidate, or party.”
Common Cause told the judge that the promise to stop soon was an attempt to run out the clock. The group said the department ignored her request for details on the roles President Donald Trump and the White House played in the campaign.
The Democratic National Committee filed its own suit over the ads on Oct. 7, asking 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.
A $20 Million Border Buy
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a $20 million purchase order to LMD Agency Inc. on Sept. 20. The money came from funds available for, among other things, “commemorating efforts and events related to border security.”
LMD made about $19 million in media buys through Sunday, Oct. 11. Holly Mehringer, a senior Homeland Security official, laid out the spending in a sworn declaration filed Saturday, Oct. 10. She said the agency had no plans to buy more.
The spots ran on CBS, ABC, ESPN, CNN, MS NOW, Fox News, Fox and Newsmax, during NFL games and shows including “Jimmy Kimmel Live.” They are classified as public service announcements and end with a disclaimer saying the U.S. government paid for them.
One ad shows 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. A spot on the administration’s capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro began airing Tuesday, Oct. 6. The administration has created at least 13 campaign-style ads.
Spots that have not yet aired include one recapping the UFC fight Trump hosted at the White House, one called “God Made Trump” and one showing lions hunting alongside images of former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Trump personally drove the ad campaign, including helping select imagery and videos, according to a source familiar with the matter. The White House video team created the ads in-house, two Trump advisers said, and a pro-Trump meme group produced at least one of them.
Mullin and the Refund Question
Republicans as well as Democrats have complained about the ads. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters, “It shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”
Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on Oct. 5 that the commercials are good promotion for the country and that using government money for them is a normal thing to do. In the same post, he said he would instead cover the cost himself with money he raised for MAGA Inc., his super PAC. The White House said MAGA Inc. will pay for future ads, and a White House official said there were no immediate plans to pay the government back for what had already run.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared Sunday, Oct. 11, on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” where he was pressed on whether taxpayer dollars would be refunded. He gave no indication the money would be returned. “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. Many such ads aim to help people use a specific government program, and these do not. Legal experts have said the spending may violate a federal statute barring money appropriated by Congress from being used for publicity or propaganda.
“We won’t stop until this administration is held fully accountable,” Common Cause CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said.
