A federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from creating and airing ads using taxpayer dollars — just weeks after a separate ruling from another court froze federal funds from being used for the estimated $20 million advertising campaign.
The new ruling is the second blow to President Donald Trump’s campaign-style ads that began airing ahead of the midterms. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan agreed with the argument set forth by the Democratic National Committee, which brought the lawsuit, that the Trump administration’s use of federal dollars to create and air the ads has the potential to damage the party’s election prospects.
The advertising campaign is facing three separate legal challenges, but the DNC’s complaint is unique because the committee alleges the government unlawfully used public funds to develop and produce the ads, while others allege only that the government is paying for their broadcast.
“Here, there is little doubt that Defendants’ unlawful use of public funds makes it more difficult for the DNC to achieve its mission of ‘electing Democratic candidates in federal, state, and local elections across the Country,’” AliKhan wrote — adding that the Trump administration’s “use of public dollars to finance the challenged ads imposes competitive harm on the DNC, causing Democratic campaign prospects to suffer.”
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Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon of the Southern District of New York blocked the Trump administration from using taxpayer funds to pay broadcast fees associated with the ads, a decision that came in response to a separate legal challenge brought by the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause and a coalition of other plaintiffs.
Both of the federal judges’ orders extend through the midterms: AliKhan’s order runs through Nov. 11 and Rochon’s order has been extended through Nov. 20.
After facing scrutiny from both sides of the political aisle for the advertising campaign, Trump announced on Oct. 5 that he planned to “pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.,” a super PAC linked to the president. But the DNC filed multiple status reports taking issue with the continued airing of the ads that the committee asserted had been created by White House staff using taxpayer dollars.
AliKhan ordered the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Homeland Security, which helped execute the multimillion advertising campaign, to “take all necessary actions to cease distribution of the challenged ads, including through authorized third parties.”
“As the DNC explains, and as common sense dictates, election resources are finite,” AliKhan wrote in her ruling. “Thus, every public dollar spent on airing the challenged ads allows MAGA Inc.—which has already spent $25,000,000 in the 2025-26 federal election cycle to support Republican candidates and oppose Democratic candidates—to conserve its resources for other political efforts adverse to the DNC.”
The Trump administration has already aired several of at least 13 ads planned under a $20 million DHS media buy. Ahead of Rochon’s decision in the Common Cause case, DHS assured the court it did not have any plans to pursue additional media buys past Oct. 11 — though the ads continued to air for a short time after that date.
But AliKhan wrote that “the court is unpersuaded” by DHS’ declaration, noting that the ads continued to air with the “Paid for by the U.S. Government” disclosure after Trump announced that he planned to pay for them and after Rochon first blocked the advertising campaign earlier this month.
DNC Chair Ken Martin celebrated AliKhan’s decision on Wednesday, calling the ruling a “victory for the rule of law and for American taxpayers.”
“Trump’s illegal and desperate attempt to save his cratering approval ratings ahead of the midterm elections only underscores how out of touch he is with the American people, who will hold him and Republicans accountable for their destructive agenda at the ballot box next week,” Martin said.
A White House official pushed back on the AliKhan’s decision, calling her ruling “moot.”
“The PSAs are being paid for by outside groups,” the official told The Washington Sun. “Administrations of both parties have used public service announcements to explain policy and make the case for the nation’s direction.”
Former presidents George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden also ran ad campaigns during their time in office — though those spots were intended to highlight specific initiatives rather than a general promotion of patriotism.
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