A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to halt its controversial ad campaign featuring the president, siding with a coalition of plaintiffs who argued that the use of taxpayer funds for the advertisements constituted illegal political propaganda.

A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to halt its controversial ad campaign featuring the president, siding with a coalition of plaintiffs who argued that the use of taxpayer funds for the advertisements constituted illegal political propaganda.

A federal judge in New York ordered the Trump administration to halt its controversial ad campaign featuring the president, siding with a coalition of plaintiffs who argued that the use of taxpayer funds for the advertisements constituted illegal political propaganda.

A federal judge told the Trump administration that its new ads featuring the US president are likely unlawful and should be stopped from airing.

The administration, however, said that the ad campaign was coming to an end on Sunday and there was no need for the judge to intervene.

The ads were challenged in court by a coalition including the non-partisan watchdog Common Cause and a democratic candidate and a labour union in New York who said that they were an illegal misuse of funds.

The challengers said that the administration used Congress-appropriated funds for “political propaganda. “We are pleased the court acted swiftly to prevent more taxpayer dollars from being used for such blatantly unlawful political propaganda,” the plaintiffs reacted to Sunday’s ruling in a statement. “There is no legal justification, and no precedent, for the president to use the machinery of the government and funds set aside by Congress for other uses to influence electoral outcomes that further his own agenda.”

District judge Jennifer L. Rochon in New York sided with the coalition and told the administration to conceal any remaining ads, including the ones set to air on Sunday night, CBS News reported.

"Defendants shall not enter into, renew, or expand any agreement authorising the development, creation, dissemination, placement, or airing of the challenged advertisements" during the two-week duration of her order, the judge said.

Rochon also said that the administration was barred from using funds appropriated to the DHS to  “develop, create, disseminate, place, distribute, publish, or air the challenged advertisements.”

Common Cause President and CEO Virginia Kase Solomón said that their fight continues despite the ruling.

“We won’t stop until this administration is held fully accountable, and no president from any party can waste and abuse taxpayer funds for propaganda ever again,” Solomón said.

The ads began airing in late September and have messaging about the administration going into the midterm. One of the ads was similar to a 2024 Trump campaign ad that also came under fire for misusing taxpayer money, with critics calling it propaganda.

One features a clip of Trump talking about the threat of communism, while another focuses on Trump’s capture of former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

In a letter last month, a group of Senate Democrats wrote, saying, "This is the sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea, not the United States of America, and it is an egregious and illegal misuse of Americans' hard-earned tax dollars.”.

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