A federal judge on Sunday night ordered the Trump administration to cancel any remaining taxpayer-funded advertisements aired on national television that critics say the president has used to promote a political message. 

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Rochon agreed with challengers that the advertisements constitute an illegal misuse of government funds. She ordered the administration to cancel the advertisements even as officials said that the campaign was winding down. 

President Donald Trump has defended the ads as public service announcements and therefore eligible for the government to pay for them. The ads depicted the president warning about the threat of communism and another borrowed material from a prior 2024 campaign ad, the Associated Press reported. 

After backlash to the ads, the president said that he would now pay for them through his political operation and not the government. The Department of Homeland Security has spent $20 million to air the videos. 

“We are pleased the court acted swiftly to prevent more taxpayer dollars from being used for such blatantly unlawful political propaganda,” Democracy Forward, the group that represents the plaintiffs challenging the ads, said 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.”