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By Joe Edwards
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An advert promoting President Donald Trump set to the song "Love Me" has been aired on Fox News.
The advert—which was seen during Fox News host Jesse Watters' show—includes the disclaimer: "paid for by the U.S. government."
The footage features an anti-communist message from Trump, alongside images of the president, the American flag, and military aircraft. The commercial is overlaid with messages including "largest tax cuts in history," "reigniting American manufacturing," and "defend law and order and police."
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The advert is also available to watch on the White House website.
The video repeatedly includes the words "love me" from the JMSN song. It is unclear whether the singer gave permission for the song to be used.
The video concludes with a statement from the UFC CEO Dana White at the 2024 Republican National Convention, when he said: "He is the toughest, most resilient person that I've ever met, and nothing was gonna stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves."
A White House spokesperson told Newsweek via email on Thursday, “These public service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad. The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”
Newsweek reached out to JMSN via his label, White Room Records.
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Ad Draws Reactions on Social Media
CBS News Miami journalist Jim DeFede reported seeing the commercial being played during Jesse Watters’ show on the network and shared a recording of the ad on social media platform X.
Many of the responses beneath DeFede’s post sharing the video were critical of the ad.
One user described the commercial as “uninspiring” and “grating,” while another branded it “sick.”
“You’d think after seventy years of the communist ‘red scare’ tactic that it wouldn’t work anymore,” questioned another account.
Someone else wrote: “Creepy, trashy, and I hope nobody watching those flashing images suffers from photosensitive epilepsy.”
A separate user said the commercial represented “clear use of overt subliminal messaging and cult programming.”
However, another user described the video as “an ad for Americanism over communism.”
Several accounts also tagged JMSN in replies to the post, asking if the artist was aware his music had been featured in the clip.
Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said the video may be criminal, in a post to X on Thursday. "This may be felony criminal theft and conversion of government property for political campaign purposes. 18 U.S.C. § 1641. It is a Hatch Act violation for any government employees who worked on it or used government resources to make it. It is blatantly unethical under numerous federal ethics provisions proscribing the use of government resources for political campaigns," Raskin said.
Trump Administration Launches Trump TV Amid Media Ban
The advertisement’s broadcast comes after the White House launched its own 24/7 video channel, branded “Trump TV: The Essentials Station.” The move followed Trump barring CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House over what he called “fake news.”
The three outlets filed a First Amendment lawsuit seeking to restore their access in response. The White House said in a recent statement that White House access “is a privilege” and “not a right.”
“The First Amendment protects their right to publish; it does not entitle them to a hard pass, briefing room seat, or place in the press pool,” it said of the three outlets.
On Thursday, a federal judge placed a temporary block on the ban and ordered the administration to restore press credentials to the outlets.
U.S. District Judge Timothy James Kelly, a Trump appointee, prevented the ban’s enforcement for 14 days while the legal challenge proceeds, Newsweek previously reported. The judge also rejected the administration’s argument that the restrictions were warranted by national-security concerns.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Alfred Joyner, Cristina Diciu and Anna Commander
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