President Donald Trump’s government-funded ads promoting his administration “violate the federal law against using taxpayer funds to finance propaganda,” a complaint filed with the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission alleged on Tuesday.

The complaint, filed by the consumer watchdog nonprofit Public Citizen, calls on the broadcasting and antitrust regulators to direct broadcasters to stop airing the ads promoting Trump. It further urges individual broadcasters to cease airing the ads as they could be “held liable for airing any advertisement that is in violation of federal law.”

“That the Trump administration not only failed to acknowledge and investigate last week’s illegal ad, but instead doubled down and released a second piece of taxpayer funded political propaganda during the mass-viewing moment of Sunday football is appalling and alarming,” Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, said in a statement. “These illegal ads should immediately be pulled from the air, and the White House’s many apparent violations of the law should be investigated.”

Public Citizen also filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office and the Office of Special Counsel to investigate the administration for violating the Hatch Act, which prohibits the use of government funds for political purposes, and other federal laws.

The three ads bearing disclosures stating “Paid for by the U.S. Government” began airing last week on Fox News and have since appeared during NFL and college football broadcasts, as well as on the right-wing Newsmax channel. In total, the government has spent more than $1 million to air the ads. Funding for the ads came from Customs and Border Protection, even though they have nothing to do with the agency’s mission, the Wall Street Journal reported.

President Donald Trump is running more than $1 million in government-funded ads promoting himself and his administration.

KENT NISHIMURA via Getty Images

One ad features Trump stating, “America will never be a communist country,” and a voiceover from UFC head Dana White praising Trump as “toughest, most resilient person that I’ve ever met.” It is set to background music repeatedly reciting the words, “Love me.” Another is a carbon copy of a 2024 Trump campaign ad declaring that he will “liberate our country from … villains” like the “sick political class that hates our country” and the “fake news media.” And a third ad features images of Mt. Rushmore with a Trump voice-over claiming that his administration is “the beginning of the golden age of America.”

The administration claims that these ads are merely public service announcements, akin to those put out by previous administrations to promote enrollment in the Affordable Care Act. But, as the Public Citizen complaint notes, the ads “generally are void of any legitimate government purpose, target the voting public shortly before the 2026 midterm elections, and thus appear to constitute violations of the law against using government resources for propaganda purposes as well as the Hatch Act.”

“They do not refer to any specific governmental program and they do not serve the purpose of informing the public about any specific governmental program,” the complaint states. “Instead, the ads are designed to boost the image and character of Donald Trump right before the 2026 midterm elections, and by association to benefit the president’s political party in the upcoming election.”

The ads attracted rare criticism from Republicans in Congress on Monday.

“I hate it. I tell you, it feels like Viktor Orbán talking to the Hungarian people,” Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said, referencing the former autocratic leader of Hungary. “There’s no place for that sort of thing.”

“It’s a great message. I like the message. But it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars,” Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) said.

The complaint may go nowhere with the Trump-controlled FCC and FTC. Since retaking office, Trump has claimed the power to direct decisions of formerly independent regulatory agencies. The Supreme Court also authorized him to fire previously independent commissioners for any reason at all, including not following his orders.