FCC chief Carr says taxpayer-funded Trump TV ads merit no review
FCC chair Brendan Carr said the taxpayer-funded television ads promoting Donald Trump merit no FCC review, dismissing criticism from both parties.
The chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission has said taxpayer-funded television advertisements promoting President Donald Trump are not improper and need no regulatory review.
“There’s nothing in there that strikes me to merit any sort of FCC review,” Brendan Carr, who was appointed to lead the FCC by Trump, said on Wednesday, likening the spots to public service announcements.
The ads have drawn criticism from both parties. On Tuesday, Democratic senators Patty Murray and Chris Murphy wrote to the Department of Homeland Security asking it to stop funding them, saying the department was planning to spend $20m on the campaign. “These ads need to immediately come off the air, taxpayers need to be paid back for this theft,” they wrote.
Republican senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said the ads resembled “something former Hungarian leader Viktor Orban would put out”, while Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the message was fine but “it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars”. House Judiciary ranking Democrat Jamie Raskin said the spending “may be felony criminal theft”, adding that staff involved could have breached the 1939 Hatch Act.
The spots have aired on national television during sports and other highly watched programming. One monochrome ad shows Trump walking down a hallway in slow motion as audio from his last campaign describes a “final battle” against the “deep state” and “Marxists”. Another uses the song “Love Me” by JMSN, whose lawyers wrote to the White House on Monday saying it was used without permission.
Sources
- Al Jazeera — US FCC head says controversial Trump ads do not raise concerns: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/9/30/us-fcc-head-says-controversial-trump-ads-do-not-raise-concerns
- Reuters — US FCC chair says government ads featuring Trump do not raise concerns: https://www.reuters.com/world/us-fcc-chair-says-government-ads-featuring-trump-do-not-raise-concerns-2026-09-30/
- North Dakota Monitor — Trump TV ads paid for with $20M in Homeland Security funds, Dems find: https://northdakotamonitor.com/2026/09/29/repub/trump-tv-ads-paid-for-with-20m-in-homeland-security-funds-dems-find/
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