Public Citizen Urges FCC, FTC to Stop Trump Ads on Airwaves

Public Citizen, a Washington-based advocacy group, has asked the Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to direct broadcasters to stop airing three White House-backed advertisements it says illegally use public funds to promote Donald Trump ahead of November's midterm elections, according to a letter reported by the Guardian on Sept. 30.

What is Public Citizen alleging?

The group wrote that the ads were "designed to boost the image and character of Donald Trump" as part of the Republican Party's midterm campaign. Its letter, addressed to both agencies, argues that the spending crosses a legal line separating routine government communication from partisan promotion. "Federal law explicitly prohibits using appropriated public funds for government propaganda, self-aggrandizement, or partisan political advertising," the organization wrote. "Yet, that is exactly the nature of Trump's recent campaign ads."

"Federal law explicitly prohibits using appropriated public funds for government propaganda, self-aggrandizement, or partisan political advertising. Yet, that is exactly the nature of Trump's recent campaign ads." — Public Citizen letter to the FCC and FTC

The organization asked both agencies to intervene directly and separately called on individual television and radio stations to stop running the spots voluntarily, citing broadcasters' obligation to operate in the "public interest, convenience, and necessity," a standard drawn from federal communications law.

What do the ads show, and when did they start airing?

According to the Guardian's reporting, the three ads in question began airing last week. The White House has described them publicly as "public service announcements" rather than campaign material, a label Public Citizen disputes. The Guardian's report does not specify the total ad spending or the broadcast markets involved, and those figures were not available in the source material reviewed for this report.

The numbers so far

• 3 — advertisements Public Citizen says were designed to promote Trump's image ahead of the midterms
• 2 — federal agencies, the FCC and FTC, that the group asked to intervene

Is Trump legally a candidate in the 2026 midterms?

The legal question at the center of the dispute is unsettled. Broadcast stations are generally barred from refusing ads placed by "legally qualified" political candidates under federal communications rules. But Trump, who cannot appear on a ballot himself in a midterm election, is not technically a candidate in that sense, even though he has urged voters to treat the election as a referendum on him personally. That distinction matters because it affects whether the ads fall under candidate-advertising protections or under separate restrictions on using appropriated funds for partisan messaging, according to Public Citizen's letter.

How has the White House responded?

The White House has pushed back against the criticism and defended its characterization of the ads as public service announcements rather than political messaging, according to the Guardian. The administration's response, as described in the report, has been described as defiant rather than conciliatory, though the source material does not include a direct quotation from a White House official addressing the legal claims.

What can the FCC and FTC actually do?

Public Citizen's letter asks the two agencies to use their oversight authority to direct broadcasters to halt the ads and to clarify that continued airing would violate the "public interest" standard that governs station licensing. The letter also appeals directly to broadcasters to stop running the spots on their own, independent of any regulatory order. Neither the FCC nor the FTC had issued a public response to the letter as of the Guardian's report on Sept. 30, and the source material does not indicate whether either agency has opened a formal review.

The dispute adds to a broader debate over the boundary between government communication and campaign advertising heading into the November midterms, though the legal outcome — including whether either agency will act on Public Citizen's request — remains unresolved based on the available reporting.