在中期选举前夕，特朗普总统正在亲自挑选本届政府要播出的哪些政府出资广告。Axios获悉，后续还会有更多广告。
President Trump is personally selecting which government-funded ads his administration is airing ahead of the midterms — with more to come, Axios has learned.
- “这只是开始，”一名政府官员告诉Axios。为什么值得关注：这些由纳税人出资的广告带有明显的党派色彩，而且距离中期选举仅一个多月，引发了两党人士的反对。背后的运作：特朗普曾是一名真人秀电视制片人，长期关注事物在电视上的呈现方式，如今他在这场广告宣传中亲力亲为。
• "This is just the beginning," an administration official told Axios. Why it matters: The seemingly partisan nature of the taxpayer-funded ads — which come a little more than a month before the midterms — has drawn bipartisan pushback. Behind the scenes: Trump — a former reality TV producer who has long fixated on how things play on television — has taken a hands-on role in the ad campaign.
- 这些广告由白宫内部制作。
• The ads are being produced inside the White House.
- 特朗普很喜欢白宫数字团队制作的视频，并开始将其发布到他的Truth Social账号上。该团队经常炮制措辞强硬、类似战情室风格的社交媒体帖子。
• Trump liked videos the White House digital team — which regularly churns out aggressive, war-room-style social media posts — was producing and began posting them to his Truth Social account.
- 随后，他决定将这些视频放到电视上播出，并亲自挑选希望播出的视频。
• He then decided he wanted to put them on TV and picked the videos he wanted to air.
- 这一决定是在几周前作出的，广告已于9月23日开始播出。具体来看：本届政府已推出三则突出特朗普个人形象，宣传其政绩并呼应其竞选言论的广告，其中包括对“共产主义、社会主义和马克思主义”的警告。
• The decision was made a couple of weeks ago, and the ads began airing Sept. 23. Zoom in: The administration has run three ads spotlighting Trump touting his record and echoing themes from his campaign rhetoric, including warnings about "communism, socialism and Marxism."
- 其中一则广告与特朗普2024年竞选时的一则广告高度相似。那则广告中，他誓言要应对“深层国家”、“全球主义者”和“好战分子”。但这则广告将竞选赞助标语替换为一项免责声明：“由美国政府出资支付。”字里行间：据那名政府官员介绍，国土安全部正使用现有预算购买这些广告。
• One closely mirrors a 2024 Trump campaign ad in which he vows to take on the "deep state," "globalists" and "warmongers" — but replaces the campaign sponsorship tagline with a disclaimer saying, "Paid for by the U.S. Government." Between the lines: The Department of Homeland Security is placing the ad buys using money from an existing budget, according to the administration official.
- 一名国土安全部发言人让Axios参考白宫为这些广告辩护的声明。
• A DHS spokesperson referred Axios to a White House statement defending the ads.
- 声明称：“爱国主义没有党派之分。这些公益广告毫无保留地体现美国精神，披露信息清晰明确，目标是面向国家，而不是选票上的某个政党。”
• "Patriotism isn't partisan. These public service announcements are unapologetically American, clearly disclosed, and aimed at the country — not a line on the ballot," the statement said.
- 白宫还指出，之前的民主党政府也曾使用政府资金播出公益广告。当前态势：据广告追踪公司AdImpact的估计，政府至少花费250万美元投放这些广告。
• The White House also noted that previous Democratic administrations used government money to air public service announcements. State of play: The government has spent at least $2.5 million to air the ads, according to an estimate by the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
- 这些广告在广播电视网上播出了逾2000次，在有线电视网上播出了50多次。
• The ads have aired more than 2,000 times on broadcast networks and more than 50 times on cable.
- 单项节目支出最高的是福克斯电视台周末的NFL赛事转播，共播出340次。
• The single biggest program outlay was on Fox's NFL coverage over the weekend, with 340 airings.
- 共和党正借NFL和大学橄榄球比赛期间投入数百万美元投放广告，以争取男性选民，目前的橄榄球宣传攻势正是在这一背景下展开的。争议焦点：这些广告引发了共和党内部人士的批评，其中包括参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩（南达科他州共和党）。
• The football push comes as Republicans are pouring millions into advertising during NFL and college football games in an effort to reach male voters. Friction point: The ads have drawn criticism from within the GOP, including from Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.).
- 图恩称赞了广告传递的信息，但表示这些广告“不应使用纳税人的钱来投放”。
• Thune praised the message behind the ads but said they "shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars."
- 民主党议员则声称，这些广告是对纳税人钱财的非法使用，并谴责这些视频无异于“人们可能预期在朝鲜看到的政府宣传”。话虽如此：迄今投入的约250万美元，只是特朗普的政治行动为中期选举投入的逾1亿美元中的一小部分。归根结底：共和党表示，引发愤怒正是目的之一：电视网或有线电视节目每次报道这些广告，都会免费为其带来额外的播出时间。
• Democratic lawmakers, for their part, have claimed the ads are an illegal use of taxpayer dollars and blasted the videos as the "sort of government propaganda one might expect in North Korea." Yes, but: The roughly $2.5 million spent so far is a tiny fraction of the $100M+ Trump's political operation is pouring into the midterms. The bottom line: Republicans say the outrage is part of the point: Every time a network or cable show covers the ads, it gives them additional airtime for free.
- 一名政府官员说：“CNN只要就此做一期节目，就会把整段内容完整播出，效果非常棒。”
• "When CNN takes a segment on it, they play the entire thing and it's great," the administration official said.