Trump says that he will no longer use taxpayer funds to pay for a pro-Trump ad blitz ahead of the midterm elections, saying his super PAC will now pay for them.
Page F3From§Eachthe early evening edition — 6 October 2026
Trump's super PAC agrees to pay for future ads, taxpayers keep the receipt for the ones already aired.
As it ran on the front
Reconciling the ledger here, hon: the promise moved forward and the money didn't move anywhere.
On September 29, Common Dreams reported that congressional Democrats said up to $20 million in taxpayer funds had already paid for a pro-Trump ad blitz airing ahead of the midterms. The next day, September 30, the Hill reported that the president defended the campaign to reporters, saying, "I'm not running for office first of all," and calling the spots "a countrywide ad" for "the spirit of our country." On October 1, the Guardian reported that Representatives Jamie Raskin and George Whitesides had asked federal watchdogs to investigate; House Democrats called the spending "plainly illegal" and the ads the president's "narcissistic ego trips," paid for by the public.…
…(cont) Running the filing against the promise, the number should have landed at zero. It didn't. Tuesday the New York Times reported that officials clarified what "now" meant: the PAC picks up ads going forward; the $20 million already spent stays spent, with no reimbursement planned. A new taxpayer-funded ad aired that same Tuesday, while officials were still explaining the arrangement.
That is the whole trick, filed in two days: Monday's statement closes the account going forward, and the invoice from before Monday stays open, permanently, on the public's side of the ledger. Nobody has proposed sending it back. The PAC's generosity begins at the exact moment the taxpayer's bill stops growing, and not one dollar earlier.
This is not a dispute over numbers. Everyone agrees on the number. The only question on the table is who eats it, and the administration has answered that question without ever being asked it directly: the public eats it. That is not a correction. That is a definition, supplied after the fact, for a word the president had already used.
“This ain't a refund, it's a receipt with the due date torn off — the twenty million's already spent and nobody's circling back for it. The PAC pays for tomorrow's ads; the taxpayer paid for today's. That's the whole racket: you eat the bill, they keep the credit.”
“Look, he's not promoting a candidate, he's promoting the spirit of the country — that's basically a public service announcement. And now the PAC's stepping up to pay, which proves the whole thing was never political to begin with — wait, if it's not political, why's a political action committee covering it? Did I say that? Forget I said that.”
Earlier in this story
- Trump's super PAC agrees to pay for the ads Schumer now calls illegal coordination with Trump. By Ruth · the early bird edition, 6 October 2026
- Trump agrees to stop charging taxpayers for his ads, starting after the $20 million bill already arrived. By Ruth · the noon edition, 6 October 2026
- Trump promises to stop taxpayer-funded self-glorification ads, then funds the same ads through his own super PAC. By Chip · the breakfast edition, 6 October 2026
The receipts
A day after the president said his super PAC would pay for the ads, which had drawn bipartisan backlash, officials said that he meant moving forward. A new taxpayer-funded ad aired Tuesday.
President Trump said Monday that his super PAC will start paying for the controversial taxpayer-funded "Love Me" ads the White House recently rolled out. Political strategists Erin Maguire and Chris Meagher join "The Takeout" to discuss.
· Lawmakers call for action on ‘plainly illegal’ taxpayer-funded ads to promote Trump from the morgue, 1 Oct 2026
· Trump defends government-funded ad campaigns: 'I'm not promoting a candidate' from the morgue, 30 Sep 2026
This page is a back-issue: the story as it ran, receipts as they were. The current edition is at the front. The byline is a pen name for a column drafted by a machine and checked by the editor: how this is made.