A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration on Sunday night to cancel its remaining taxpayer-funded television advertisements promoting the president, ruling that the campaign was likely unlawful and had to stop at once — including spots still scheduled to air that same evening. The order lands in the final weeks before the November 3 midterm elections, with control of Congress on the line.
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| The Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse in Manhattan (file photo). |
A Sunday-Night Order, Effective
Immediately
U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon, who sits in Manhattan and was appointed by former President Joe Biden, granted a temporary restraining order against the ad campaign on Sunday, October 11. According to reports of the ruling, the order took effect at 6:45 p.m. Eastern time and runs for two weeks.
In a short written order, the judge directed the government to cancel any remaining advertising reservations, to pay out no further money for the campaign, and to make no new, renewed or expanded agreements covering the creation or airing of the challenged commercials during the life of the order. She also rejected the administration's argument that the case was already pointless because the campaign was about to end anyway.
The judge found that the groups suing had the right to bring the case, that they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claims, that they would suffer irreparable harm without an intervention, and that both the balance of equities and the public interest favoured acting now. It is, according to reports, the first time a judge has blocked the advertisements, even though the campaign faces several separate lawsuits.
What the Ads Showed
The commercial campaign began airing in late September, in the closing stretch of the midterm campaign. According to the Associated Press, the spots celebrate President Donald Trump and echo his political messaging rather than explaining how members of the public can use a government programme or service.
One spot features the president speaking about the threat of communism. Another is a replay of an advertisement from his last presidential campaign. The campaign's fifth spot began airing last Tuesday and centres on the administration's capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. The commercials have also credited the president with what he describes as the largest tax cuts in history.
That content is central to the dispute. The White House has defended the spots as public service announcements, comparable to campaigns run by earlier administrations to promote government policies. Critics, and the reporting on the case, draw a distinction: traditional public service announcements usually tell people how to access a benefit, a service or a safety programme, whereas these spots are built around the president's image and political arguments.
Where the Money Came From
The money trail is the other half of the case. The Department of Homeland Security drew on about $20 million in taxpayer funds for the campaign, according to court filings reported by AP and CNBC. The money came out of a much larger $175 million package that Congress provided to the department as part of the president's immigration enforcement agenda, with funds linked to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In a court declaration filed on Saturday, a senior Homeland Security official performing the duties of the department's chief financial officer, Holly Mehringer, said the money came from appropriations available for purposes that included commemorating border security efforts and events. She also told the judge that the department had instructed its vendor to make no further media buys after October 11 and expected a final invoice to follow.
The Justice Department, arguing late on Saturday against an emergency order, told the court that a restraining order was unnecessary because the conduct being challenged would end the next day. The government also argued that the challengers had no right to sue, that the case had been filed in the wrong place, and that they faced no irreparable harm — arguments the judge did not accept. Notably, according to reporting on the filings, the government's case focused on those procedural points rather than on defending the legality of the advertisements themselves.
The Legal Argument
The lawsuit before Judge Rochon was brought by a coalition that includes the nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause and the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ, along with other unions and an Alabama state House candidate. The group is represented by the nonprofit legal organisation Democracy Forward.
Their core claim is that the administration took money Congress had set aside for other purposes and spent it on political messaging. Legal experts cited in the reporting point to a long-standing federal restriction on using congressionally appropriated money for publicity or propaganda, and suggest the campaign may have run into other federal laws as well.
In their statement after the ruling, the plaintiffs welcomed the speed of the court's decision and argued that there was no legal basis or precedent for a president to use the machinery of government, funded for other ends, to try to shape an election outcome in his own interest. The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party's Wisconsin arm have brought a separate lawsuit over the same advertisements, so the issue will remain in court even as this order expires.
Pushback From Both Parties
The advertisements had already drawn criticism well beyond the courtroom, including from inside the president's own party. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, told reporters the spots "shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars."
Amid that backlash, President Trump addressed the funding question in an October 5 social media post. He defended the advertisements as "rather standard," but said that, in light of the criticism, he would pay for them from his political fundraising instead. A White House official has since said there were no immediate plans to reimburse the government for the money already spent, according to AP.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday night's ruling. When asked about the order, it pointed reporters back to the president's October 5 post.
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| The White House in Washington (file photo). |
What This Means
The ruling draws a bright, if temporary, line around a question that reaches beyond one advertising campaign: where does official government communication end and campaign promotion begin? Governments routinely spend public money explaining policies, recruiting for public service and warning about dangers. The challengers in this case, and now a federal judge at this early stage, say a campaign built around a sitting president's image and slogans, airing weeks before an election and paid for from an enforcement budget, crosses that line.
The order is not a final judgment. A temporary restraining order reflects a judge's assessment that one side is likely to win and that waiting would cause harm that cannot easily be undone — in this case, more public money going out of the door and more airtime bought before the underlying dispute can be heard. The two-week window is designed to hold everything in place while the court considers the next steps.
Politically, the episode hands the president's opponents a court-backed argument in the closing phase of the midterms, and it has already split his own side, as the Senate majority leader's comments show. It also puts a spotlight on how large, loosely worded appropriations — such as the $175 million package for homeland security — can be interpreted by an administration once the money is in its hands.
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| The U.S. Capitol in Washington (file photo). |
What Happens Next
The restraining order runs for two weeks, during which the administration cannot revive, extend or replace the challenged campaign with new agreements. The case itself continues, and the court will decide whether longer-lasting restrictions should follow while the full legal arguments are heard.
Several practical questions remain open. It is not yet clear whether any spots aired on Sunday evening before the order took effect, how much of the roughly $20 million has already been spent or invoiced, and whether the president's stated intention to pay for the campaign from political funds will lead to any reimbursement of the Treasury. The separate Democratic Party lawsuit is also still pending.
For voters, the immediate effect is simple: a campaign that was set to run into the heart of the midterm season has been pulled from the air by a court order, and any attempt to bring it back in taxpayer-funded form will first have to survive a judge.
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