US judge orders halt to taxpayer-funded ads featuring Trump

The decision caps days of controversy over the taxpayer-funded s, which ​were aired in the final weeks before the midterm elections. “We won’t stop until this administration is held fully accountable, and no president from any party can waste and abuse taxpayer funds ​for propaganda ever again," said Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón.

Trump ​on Monday said he considered the ads to be a "positive promotion for our great U.S.A." but ‌that ⁠they would no longer be funded by taxpayers, and the White House said this week that the president's political action committee, MAGA PAC, would fund the ads going forward.

The White House said Trump's political action committee will not reimburse taxpayers for ​the ads that have ​already run. The ⁠ads end with a disclaimer saying they were paid for by the US government. The Justice Department did not immediately respond ​to a request for comment about the judge's order.

The plaintiffs, which also ​included a ⁠public employee union and a candidate for Alabama state representative, had asked Rochon to temporarily block the ads by Friday so that they could not air during weekend ⁠programming ​such as football games and Saturday Night Live. Democratic Party ​officials also challenged the ads in a separate suit brought in federal court in Washington.