WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Monday said taxpayers will no longer pay for television ads featuring him shortly before the November congressional elections after widespread criticism of the campaign-style spots.
Ethics experts and lawmakers from both parties have criticized the three nationally broadcast ads, which celebrate a "golden age of America," and called for independent investigations.
In a post on his Truth Social site on Monday, Trump 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 said either he or his MAGA PAC would fund the ads.
Trump's MAGA Inc political action committee has about US$400 million. A White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity told Reuters that going forward the ads would be paid for by the PAC.
