A new TV ad showing a montage of President Donald Trump and the American flag, set to the JMSN song "Love Me," carries a label that reads "Paid for by the U.S. Government," according to WUSA9. That means taxpayers footed the bill for what critics in Congress call a political ad.

Federal spending law, known as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, bars the government from spending public money on propaganda. Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House subcommittee that oversees White House spending, co-wrote a letter demanding the ad be pulled. "If President Trump wants people to love him, he can pay for it himself," the lawmakers wrote, according to WUSA9. They also asked for a full breakdown of the federal funds behind the ad and discipline for the employees involved.

This concern is not new. In October 2025, a group of Senate Democrats, including both senators from Maryland and both from Virginia, sent a letter to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) accusing the White House of using federal money for propaganda as early as September 2025.

No matter which party holds the White House, public money belongs to the public. A president's image campaign should be paid for by a campaign, not by families paying their taxes. Americans deserve to know how much this ad cost, who signed off on it, and whether the law was followed.

The White House should take the ad off the air and release a complete accounting of what it cost to make and air. Congress should ask the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review whether federal law was broken, and close any gaps so no president of either party can do this again.

Sign the petition to pull the ad and demand a full accounting of every taxpayer dollar spent on it, before more public money goes to political promotion.