Democratic appropriators accuse White House of using CBP funds for Trump political ads

Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee accused the White House of using Customs and Border Protection (CBP) funding to air political ads just weeks out from the November midterm elections.

President Trump has received pushback from across the aisle after launching a 30-second commercial in which he said, “Together we will defeat communism, socialism and Marxism in America,” and “America will never be a communist country.” The ad included a note that says it was paid for by the U.S. government.

CNN reported that a taxpayer-funded advertisement from the White House aired Sunday during the commercial breaks of two NFL games, featuring imagery of Trump making his way through a hall with a voiceover of the president saying, “This is the final battle,” and “We will cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists.”

The Wall Street Journal, citing “people familiar with the matter,” reported Tuesday that the administration financed the ads using federal funds from CBP.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, along with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on Homeland Security, slammed Trump in a joint statement Tuesday.

“After gutting $1 trillion from Medicaid, stripping health care coverage from millions of Americans, giving the very richest Americans and large corporations massive tax breaks, adding more than $4 trillion to the deficit, and more than quadrupling funding for mass deportations, it turns out the Trump administration used Republicans’ One Big Beautiful Bill to pay for President Trump’s political ads,” the Democratic lawmakers wrote.

“When Democrats reclaim control of Congress next year, the House Appropriations Committee will work to uncover and reverse misuses of taxpayer money like this and hold those who abused their power accountable,” they added.

Both Democrats also noted that Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought shifted $20 million “in resources to the Department of Homeland Security for this purpose” earlier this month.

The White House has previously defended the ads. A White House spokesperson told The Hill that the “public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.”