Taxpayer-Funded Pro-Trump Ads Air on CNN and MS NOW
Pro-Trump commercials paid for with taxpayer money have aired on CNN and MS NOW.
The buy places administration messaging on two cable news channels President Donald Trump routinely criticises. Variety reported the placements on 1 October.
Ad-tracking firm AdImpact, which monitors political airtime, counts 38 airings on MS NOW and 10 on CNN through Wednesday, 30 September. The figures cover three separate pro-Trump spots now in rotation. AdImpact estimates total spending on the three spots at at least $2.87 million, a total Variety reported as $2.9 million to date.
Each commercial ends with the disclaimer “Paid for by the U.S. Government.” That line means the airtime was bought with public funds rather than campaign funds. It is the standard tag for a federal government communication.
The effort did not start on CNN or MS NOW. The spots began running on Fox News and Newsmax last week, according to the same report. The White House has since extended the buy across broadcast television, with spots airing on CBS, Fox, NBC and ABC.
President Donald Trump personally helped orchestrate and drove the video ads promoting himself and his administration, CNN reported on 28 September. As of that date, the administration was running a new spot repurposed from Trump’s 2024 campaign bid, CNN reported in a separate account.
What makes this stand out for viewers is the breadth of the media plan. In television, an ad buy is simply purchased airtime, and the same commercial can run on channels with very different audiences. Here that has meant identical pro-Trump messages appearing on Fox News and Newsmax alongside CNN, MS NOW and the four broadcast networks. For anyone channel-surfing, the result is hard to miss.
