Five weeks out from Election Day, things are not looking so hot for Donald Trump, or the Republican Party’s midterms prospects. Voters are focused on affordability, and the president’s efforts to address their concerns (which range from feeble to silly) have almost entirely failed. Democrats are performing well in just about every poll. Some GOP candidates are openly distancing themselves from the president.

So now Trump is running ads to convince midterms voters he gets it … by spending their tax dollars on campaign ads, which is probably illegal.

The first ad, which started airing last week, shows a montage of images of Trump talking about defeating communism and socialism as a song in the background repeats the words “Love Me.” Then there’s voice over of UFC CEO Dana White saying, “He’s the toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met and nothing is going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.” It concludes with the words: “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”

So I was just watching Fox News and this commercial played during Jesse Watters show. It says “Paid for by the US Government.” This is clearly a campaign ad. And the singers are just singing over and over again, “Love me” - over images of Trump. @CBSMiami @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/eCkEZpipWx— Jim DeFede (@DeFede) September 24, 2026

So I was just watching Fox News and this commercial played during Jesse Watters show. It says “Paid for by the US Government.” This is clearly a campaign ad. And the singers are just singing over and over again, “Love me” - over images of Trump. @CBSMiami @CBSNews pic.twitter.com/eCkEZpipWx

Could this ad have been “Paid for by Donald J. Trump”? Yes, absolutely. The president is sitting on a $400 million war chest. Should this ad have been paid for by Trump? Probably. As the Washington Post notes, federal law prohibits using taxpayer money on partisan ads:

Federal law, enacted annually as part of appropriations bills since the 1950s, prohibits agencies from using taxpayer money for unauthorized “publicity or propaganda.” The Government Accountability Office, Congress’s investigative arm, has interpreted that........

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