00:02We begin with President Trump changing course on who pays for a series of ads promoting
00:07his administration. After days of bipartisan pushback, Trump now says taxpayers won't
00:13foot the bill going forward. Trump says his super PAC, MAGA Inc., will now pay for the
00:18campaign-style ads instead. At least $1.5 million in federal money has already been spent on them.
00:25Trump is still defending that spending. In a Truth Social post, he called using taxpayer money
00:30for the ads, quote, a rather standard thing to do and called them a positive promotion for our
00:36great USA. He blamed the radical left for the criticism, though some Republicans have also
00:42objected to taxpayers picking up the tab. Earlier Monday, Vice President J.D. Vance defended the ads
00:48as public service announcements. I don't think there's anything unusual or unorthodox about it.
00:53I'm sure that some people probably don't like it. But if you look at the message of those
00:56advertisements, they're not partisan. It's not like we're advocating for a particular candidate.
01:02We're trying to tell a story, I think, about how great the United States of America is.
01:06The Department of Homeland Security had set aside $20 million for the ad campaign.
01:11The White House has not said whether MAGA Inc. will reimburse taxpayers for money
01:15that's already been spent.
