WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Ranking Member of the Joint Economic Committee and a senior member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined CNN’s Jake Tapper to discuss her investigation into new taxpayer-funded political advertisements promoting President Donald Trump. Following the interview, new reporting has revealed that President Trump personally directed the creation of the ads, and that the funding comes from the Department of Homeland Security.
“Wow — a new report reveals that President Trump's taxpayer-funded political TV ads are funded by the Department of Homeland Security,” said Senator Hassan in response to the new reports. “DHS should focus on threats like stopping fentanyl, not bankrolling yet another vanity project for the President.”
On top of the more than $1 million the Administration has reportedly spent on this advertising campaign, a recent Joint Economic Committee – Minority report found that President Trump’s vanity projects – including construction of the new White House ballroom and the no-bid contract to paint the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, among others – are expected to cost more than $1.8 billion. Using this total, the Committee created an Interactive Cost Calculator where users can explore how this $1.8 billion could instead be spent to lower costs and help the American people.
Watch Senator Hassan’s CNN interview here or see below for key moments:
Tapper: “Senator, before this latest Trump video came out, you sent a letter last week to the White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles about the previous one. Have you gotten any sort of response?”
Senator Hassan: “I’m not waiting with bated breath for the White House to respond. As we know, they don't think they're accountable to Congress, but here's what the American people know: Donald Trump is using their money, taxpayer money, to fund an ad promoting himself. It's propaganda. It's political. It's not lawful.
“Right now, our latest figure is he has spent at least $1.7 million of taxpayer money on these ads, and it needs to stop. It isn't going to keep the American people from understanding how bad the economy is and how many campaign promises Donald Trump has broken.”
Tapper: “In a similar response to a previous Trump video, the White House says this latest ad is ‘educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.’ What do you make of that argument?”
Senator Hassan: “I think the American people know a political ad when they see it. And this response from the White House is just insulting. It’s really adding insult to injury because people are struggling so much right now. This is millions of dollars of their money, along with the other vanity projects that Donald Trump has undertaken.
“We did at the Joint Economic Committee, an analysis of the cost of vanity projects, like the new ballroom, the Reflecting Pool, a bunch of the other things that Trump has done. That's about a $1.8 [billion] total. And people can see what that money could pay for – school lunches, rent, childcare for people – by going to Hassan.senate.gov, because we have an interactive calculator where people can see what that $1.8 [billion] in vanity spending that he's already done could actually cover that would help the American people make ends meet at the end of the month.”
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