Trump ads paid for by US government allegedly violate anti-propaganda laws
Trump ads paid for by US government allegedly violate anti-propaganda laws
特朗普政府出资的广告涉嫌违反反宣传法
Broadcasters should be ordered to stop running Trump commercials that appear to violate US laws, consumer advocacy group Public Citizen said today in a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission. The ads appear to violate laws against using taxpayer funds for propaganda and a law that restricts political activity by federal government employees, the group said. 消费者权益倡导组织“公共公民”（Public Citizen）今日向联邦通信委员会（FCC）和联邦贸易委员会（FTC）提交投诉，要求下令广播公司停止播放涉嫌违反美国法律的特朗普商业广告。该组织表示，这些广告似乎违反了禁止将纳税人资金用于宣传的法律，以及限制联邦政府雇员政治活动的法律。
“The most recent of these taxpayer-funded campaign ads, entitled ‘The Final Battle,’ is a copied version of an ad that the Trump campaign committee issued in the 2024 election,” Public Citizen wrote. “In dead serious black-and-white footage, Trump is seen marching down a corridor with a stern look, while the audio blares: ‘This is the final battle. With you at my side, we will demolish the deep state. We will expel the warmongers from our government.’ A notice at the bottom of the screen announces: ‘Paid for by the US government.’” “这些由纳税人资助的竞选广告中，最新的一则名为《最终之战》（The Final Battle），它是特朗普竞选委员会在2024年大选中发布广告的复制版本，”公共公民组织写道。“在严肃的黑白画面中，特朗普神情严峻地走在走廊上，音频中高喊着：‘这是最终之战。有你们在我身边，我们将摧毁深层政府。我们将把战争贩子从我们的政府中驱逐出去。’屏幕底部的一则通知显示：‘由美国政府付费。’”
Trump also says in the ad, “We will cast out the communists, Marxists, and fascists. We will throw off the sick political class that hates our country, we will rout the fake news media, and we will liberate America from these villains once and for all.” It uses the same video and audio from an ad Trump used in 2024, with the main difference being that the 2024 version was paid for by Trump’s campaign committee instead of the US government. The White House claims its recent ads are public service announcements. 特朗普在广告中还说道：“我们将驱逐共产主义者、马克思主义者和法西斯主义者。我们将抛弃仇视我们国家的病态政治阶层，我们将击溃假新闻媒体，我们将彻底把美国从这些恶棍手中解放出来。”该广告使用了特朗普2024年广告中相同的视频和音频，主要区别在于2024年的版本是由特朗普竞选委员会付费，而非美国政府。白宫声称其最近的广告属于公共服务公告。
The updated version of the “Final Battle” ad aired during NBC’s Saturday Night Live, Fox News Sunday, and several college and NFL football games this past weekend, the Public Citizen letter said. Department of Homeland Security funds were used to pay for the ads, according to a Wall Street Journal report that said, “President Trump personally pushed for the ads and has been involved in their creation.” 公共公民组织的信中提到，更新版的《最终之战》广告在上周末的NBC《周六夜现场》、福克斯新闻周日节目以及多场大学和NFL橄榄球比赛期间播出。《华尔街日报》的一篇报道称，这些广告使用了国土安全部的资金，并指出“特朗普总统亲自推动了这些广告，并参与了它们的制作”。
The other ads include one in which Trump says, “America will never be a communist country,” and another in which he says, “the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history.” Public Citizen, the nonprofit founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, said it “strongly urges the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission to direct broadcasters to stop broadcasting these apparently illegal campaign advertisements.” 其他广告包括特朗普声称“美国永远不会成为一个共产主义国家”，以及他称“美利坚合众国是人类历史上最成功、最有成就、最卓越的国家”。由拉尔夫·纳德（Ralph Nader）于1971年创立的非营利组织公共公民表示，它“强烈敦促联邦通信委员会和联邦贸易委员会指示广播公司停止播放这些显然非法的竞选广告”。
Broadcasters likely wary of FCC threats
广播公司可能对FCC的威胁感到担忧
It’s highly unlikely that the FCC or FTC would order broadcasters to stop running the Trump ads. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s history of attacking broadcasters that Trump dislikes suggests he is more likely to threaten the licenses of broadcasters that refuse to run the ads. Both Carr and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson also backed Trump’s expansion of power over nominally independent agencies like the FTC and FCC. FCC或FTC极不可能下令广播公司停止播放特朗普的广告。FCC主席布伦丹·卡尔（Brendan Carr）过去曾攻击特朗普不喜欢的广播公司，这表明他更有可能威胁那些拒绝播放这些广告的广播公司的执照。卡尔和FTC主席安德鲁·弗格森（Andrew Ferguson）也都支持特朗普扩大对FTC和FCC等名义上独立机构的权力。
Senate Democrats said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin today that Trump is “illegally using Americans’ tax dollars to fund government propaganda and to put ads from his 2024 campaign back on the air. So far, it appears DHS has dedicated $20 million to this outrageous scheme, tapping funds provided to US Customs and Border Protection in Republicans’ ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ for commemorative events relating to border security.” 参议院民主党人在今天致国土安全部长马克韦恩·穆林（Markwayne Mullin）的一封信中表示，特朗普正在“非法使用美国纳税人的钱来资助政府宣传，并将他2024年竞选活动的广告重新搬上荧幕。到目前为止，国土安全部似乎已经为这一令人愤慨的计划投入了2000万美元，动用了共和党《一个伟大而美丽的法案》（One Big Beautiful Bill Act）中提供给美国海关和边境保护局用于边境安全纪念活动的资金。”
The senators’ letter cited an estimate from analytics firm AdImpact “that over $1.7 million in federal funds have already been spent simply airing these ads.” 参议员们的信中引用了分析公司AdImpact的估计，“仅播放这些广告就已经花费了超过170万美元的联邦资金。”
Broadcasters would likely be wary of rejecting the Trump ads. ABC owner Disney, which is fighting an FCC proceeding that could block renewal of its station broadcast licenses, said in a lawsuit that its editorial decision-making has been affected by FCC threats. ABC’s The View hasn’t aired any interviews of political candidates since the FCC began the proceeding, and Jimmy Kimmel said he put an interview with a Democratic candidate on YouTube instead of broadcast TV so that local ABC stations wouldn’t have to deal with fallout from the FCC. 广播公司很可能会对拒绝特朗普广告持谨慎态度。ABC的所有者迪士尼目前正在应对一项可能阻止其续签广播执照的FCC程序，该公司在诉讼中表示，其编辑决策受到了FCC威胁的影响。自FCC开始该程序以来，ABC的《观点》（The View）节目没有播出任何政治候选人的采访，吉米·坎摩尔（Jimmy Kimmel）也表示，他将对一位民主党候选人的采访放在了YouTube上，而不是广播电视上，这样当地的ABC电视台就不必应对来自FCC的后果。
Equal-time rule doesn’t apply, group says
该组织称“平等时间规则”不适用
The equal-time rule prohibits broadcast stations from censoring or rejecting political ads paid for and sponsored by legally qualified candidates. However, Public Citizen said the rule doesn’t apply because Trump is not a candidate and that broadcasters should avoid airing ads that violate federal law: “平等时间规则”禁止广播电台审查或拒绝由合法合格候选人付费和赞助的政治广告。然而，公共公民组织表示，该规则不适用，因为特朗普并非候选人，且广播公司应避免播放违反联邦法律的广告：
Broadcasters may be held liable for airing any advertisement that is in violation of federal law. 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 that began airing on September 23, 2026. Furthermore, Donald Trump is not a candidate for any elective office. The FCC and broadcasters are not constrained by the special rule protecting candidate advertisements. 广播公司可能因播放任何违反联邦法律的广告而承担责任。联邦法律明确禁止将拨付的公共资金用于政府宣传、自我吹嘘或党派政治广告。然而，这正是特朗普自2026年9月23日开始播出的近期竞选广告的本质。此外，唐纳德·特朗普并非任何民选职位的候选人。FCC和广播公司不受保护候选人广告的特殊规则约束。
Defending the use of government funds, the White House claimed the ads are “public service announcements.” The ads are “about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad,” the White House told media outlets. But the ads do not qualify as public service announcements, Public Citizen said. “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 group said. “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…” 在为使用政府资金辩护时，白宫声称这些广告是“公共服务公告”。白宫告诉媒体，这些广告是“为了提醒美国人热爱自己的国家，并了解是什么让它值得在本土、边境和海外进行捍卫”。但公共公民组织表示，这些广告不符合公共服务公告的资格。“它们没有提及任何具体的政府项目，也没有起到告知公众有关任何具体政府项目的作用，”该组织表示。“相反，这些广告旨在2026年中期选举前夕提升唐纳德·特朗普的形象和声望，并以此关联来造福总统的政治……”