Report: Trump Ordered Taxpayer Money Be Used For TV Commercials

President Trump personally ordered his budget director to find taxpayer money for television ads praising him and his presidency, setting off a $20 million Department of Homeland Security contract, according to people familiar with the matter, the New York Times reported.

The ads have aired on cable and network television, including Fox News, CNN and MS NOW, during football games on Fox, and with national newscasts on CBS, ABC and NBC, including “Meet the Press,” which Trump is known to watch.

Trump was eager to see the laudatory spots on the air and told Russell T. Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget, to come up with the money from inside the government, the people said. Mark Paoletta, the budget office’s counsel, and Will Scharf, the White House counsel, both said it would be legal to use DHS funds. Trump and Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff, each spoke with Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, about the ads.

On Sept. 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which falls under DHS, awarded the contract to LMD, a Maryland marketing firm, federal records show.

The account is based on interviews with 12 people familiar with the president’s interest in the ads and how they were arranged. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe Trump’s demand.

Democrats, and some Republicans, have criticized the taxpayer-funded spots as a possible violation of federal laws barring the use of public money for “publicity or propaganda purposes.”