The $20 Million Taxpayer Ad Blitz Ends Sunday. The Administration Just Told a Judge That’s Why the Case Should Go Away.

WASHINGTON

The strangest argument in court this weekend may be the one about a calendar. The Trump administration spent weeks and $19 million of taxpayer money airing campaign-style television ads promoting the president — and late Saturday night, its lawyers told a federal judge the case against the ads was moot because, by the time anyone rules, the ads will already be over.

This is a follow-up: we covered how the $20 million was moved on October 3, when reporting said Trump personally directed the budget office to find the money. What’s new this weekend is the endgame — the administration’s “it ends Sunday anyway” filing, the plaintiffs’ Sunday response, and the open question of what happens to the millions left unspent.

Saturday night’s filing

In response to the Common Cause lawsuit, the Justice Department argued that a court order halting the spending should be denied because the commercials “will not continue past tomorrow,” according to CNN, which reviewed the filing. The filing was backed by a sworn declaration from senior Department of Homeland Security official Holly Mehringer: the advertising company, LMD Agency Inc., “purchased media buys under the terms of the Order through Sunday, October 11, 2026, at an approximate cost of $19,000,000.” DHS, she added, had directed LMD “to not make any additional media buys past October 11,” and there were “no plans” to buy more.

The administration allocated $20 million for the ads, classified as “public service announcements,” from U.S. Customs and Border Protection funds, CNN previously reported. At least 13 campaign-style spots were produced and aired on CBS, CNN, MS NOW, Fox News and Fox. The spending has drawn scrutiny from both parties: the DNC’s suit says the New York Times reported Trump personally directed budget officials to find the money, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have raised concerns.

Sunday’s response: a promise isn’t a court order

Plaintiffs weren’t satisfied. In a Sunday court filing, the coalition behind the Common Cause suit argued there’s nothing — besides a court-mandated pause — stopping the administration from buying more ads once the current contract ends, according to Democracy Docket. Their core point: Customs and Border Protection made the $20 million obligation under a Blanket Purchase Agreement with LMD that is still in effect. The DHS directive not to run ads past the October 11 deadline, they said, is not legally binding.

That’s the legal crux. “Defendants cannot moot a case by claiming, as DHS does here, that the conduct has stopped and they have no plan to repeat it,” the plaintiffs’ lawyers wrote. It’s also why the timing stings for the administration’s critics: with the midterms on November 3 and early voting already underway in parts of the country, the ads ran through the heart of the campaign window — including, per Democracy Docket, widely viewed Sunday evening programming.

What the lawsuits say, and what the ads were

Three separate legal challenges are now live. The DNC sued October 7 in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleging what the DNC stated in its filing was a “blatant violation of the statutory ban on the use of appropriations for ‘publicity or propaganda purposes.’” — and filed for a temporary restraining order on October 9. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin filed its own suit October 9. Common Cause, alongside two labor unions and a Democratic state senate candidate in Alabama, sued last week.

The spots themselves are the exhibits. Five were named in the DNC’s complaint — “The Country He Loves,” a spot celebrating the capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, “The Final Battle,” “Mount Rushmore” and “American Military Power” — a mix of Trump imagery, denunciations of socialism and communism, and military displays during the Iran war. Each ends with a disclaimer noting it was “paid for by the U.S. government.” One ad features Trump, who said: “America will never be a communist country”; another stitches Mount Rushmore imagery to Trump praising a “golden age of America.”

The White House has maintained the commercials are public service announcements, arguing prior administrations used government funds to promote their policies. Trump himself said last week: “I’m not promoting myself because I’m not running for office. I’m promoting the country,” Trump said of the ads last week, per the Washington Examiner. After days of criticism — from Democrats and some Republicans — he announced Monday that his super PAC, MAGA Inc., would pay for future ads rather than taxpayers. What he hasn’t committed to is reimbursing the government for what’s already aired. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin suggested on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday that taxpayers won’t be getting their money back.

More from the newsroom: how the $20 million was moved · the FCC campaign-ad fight · Trump’s midterm rallies