NYT: Trump Told Vought to Find $20 Million for Taxpayer-Funded TV Ads Featuring Him

President Trump personally told his budget director to find government money to pay for television ads about himself and his administration, The New York Times reported, a month before the midterm elections.

According to the Times, which cited 12 people familiar with the process, Trump was eager to get promotional spots on the air and approached Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget. Vought's office located the money inside the Department of Homeland Security.

The funds came from Customs and Border Protection. On Sept. 19, $20 million was shifted into a DHS budget category for "commemorative events." The next day, CBP awarded a $20 million "national media campaign" contract to LMD, a marketing firm based in Maryland.

The Times reported that White House Counsel Will Scharf and OMB counsel Mark Paoletta concluded DHS funds could legally be used for the ads. The newspaper's account of that legal review rests on its sources, and the administration has not published the analysis.

At least four ads have aired on cable and broadcast channels, including Fox News, CNN and MS NOW. One is effectively identical to a Trump 2024 campaign video. Another shows flattering images of the president set to the song "Love Me." The ads carry a disclaimer reading "Paid for by the U.S. government."

Democrats and some Republicans have asked whether the spending violates the federal ban on using taxpayer money for "publicity or propaganda purposes." The White House describes the commercials as public service announcements and not political advertising.

Federal appropriations law lets agencies spend on informing the public about programs, but it bars using money to promote an official or influence an election. The question for investigators and courts is whether ads showing the president, run weeks before a national vote, cross that line. The Government Accountability Office has historically ruled on such disputes.

The story is another of a series of reports about how the administration spends money in the run-up to November. Trump also announced $90 payments for more than 20 million Medicare enrollees. The ad contract also follows earlier DHS ad campaigns that drew congressional scrutiny over their cost and the political connections of firms that profited.

The Times account describes the arrangement as a chain of transfers that moved money from a border-security account into an events category and then to a vendor within a day. Critics say that kind of reprogramming raises separate questions about whether Congress intended the money for those purposes. The administration says the process was lawful, and no court or oversight body has ruled on the matter.