The artist JMSN has found out that his track “Love Me,” is being used in a taxpayer-funded advertisement for President Trump. His legal team has since sent a cease-and-desist letter to the White House, ordering it to pull the ad from all scheduled airings and remove every online copy.
The message, addressed to White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, asks for a written record of every broadcast and digital upload. It should contain the date, time, network or station, market, program, and total media spend.
The Ads and Their Cost
Last week, the White House initiated an advertising push that appeared on CBS News and several other networks. Advertisement tracking firm AdImpact reports at least three separate spots have aired across broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms, with a total budget of nearly $2.5 million.
The first ad features “Love Me” playing while Trump speaks. He says “We will defeat communism, socialism and Marxism in America.” The ad also shows him at rallies, pardoning turkeys, at the White House with Christmas decorations, standing with the FIFA trophy, surrounded by flags, flanked by military leaders, outside the Taj Mahal, and more.
The ad flashes “America will never be a communist country” on screen. It touts his administration’s tax cuts and support for domestic manufacturing and law enforcement. It ends with Dana White’s voice declaring Trump “the toughest, most resilient man I’ve ever met and nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the country he loves.”
JMSN’s Response
On social media, JMSN said he had never given the White House permission to use “Love Me.”. He wrote: “To anybody who has followed my career and knows what I stand for and built my career on, it should go without saying that I would never authorize my music to be used for ANY political agenda or campaign.”
There is no response from the White House to a question about the cease-and-desist letter.
The Other Ads in the Campaign
A TV ad paid for with taxpayer money mirrors one Trump shared during his 2024 presidential campaign. It runs at 30 seconds and carries the title the “Final Battle.”. It debuted over the weekend.
The commercial shows Trump striding through a corridor, speaking of tearing down the “deep state,” driving out “warmongers from our government,” crushing “the fake news media,” and freeing “America from these villains once and for all.”.
This is a straight copy of a video uploaded to Truth Social by Trump back in January 2024, with nothing altered except the swap of his 2024 campaign logo for the text “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”.
A separate advertisement, known as “Celebrating The Enduring Spirit,” draws on audio from Trump’s remarks at Mount Rushmore on July 3, 2026.
The Political Pushback
Republican Sen. John Kennedy criticized the ads Sunday on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.” He said: “I don’t think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.”
Sen. Thom Tillis described the ads as “not appropriate PSA”, comparing them to Hungarian dictator Viktor Orban. He said: “Yeah, he used taxpayer dollars to communicate his political view, and he lost his ass in an election too.”
CBS News has reported that a White House official said the TV spots are “clearly not political,” noting that Trump is not on the ballot for midterm elections this year and that the ads don’t include a call to action. The administration defends the ads as public service announcements.
A White House spokesperson said the ads “are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.”
According to AdImpact, nearly $2.5 million has already been spent on the campaign. The advertisements appear across broadcast, cable, and streaming channels, all of which are funded with taxpayer dollars.
| Ad | Platform | Spend |
|---|---|---|
| “Love Me” spot | Broadcast, cable, streaming | ~$2.5M |
| “Final Battle” | TV | ~$2.5M |
| “Celebrating The Enduring Spirit” | Audio | Not specified |
The White House has not yet responded to the cease-and-desist letter, while the campaign remains active.
The official at the White House argues that these are public service announcements rather than political advertisements. They point out that none of the ads include a call to action, and they note that Trump is not on the ballot for midterms this year.
The case for that defense depends on a limited view of what constitutes political speech. The ads feature Trump’s record on taxes, manufacturing, and law enforcement. They feature Trump’s image and his voice from campaign events and places tied to history. They conclude with an endorsement from a celebrity who praises his toughness.
None of that looks like a public service announcement to JMSN.
The irony here is that the ads are being pushed back against by members of Trump’s own party. Both Kennedy and Tillis are Republicans, and both have raised questions about whether it makes sense to spend public money on private ads for themselves.
These advertisements are more openly political than those Trump ran in 2024, and they target particular ideologies directly. Communism, socialism, and Marxism all come under attack, with Trump positioned as the protector of American values against the villains who stand opposed to him.
The letter from JMSN is direct in its demand: pull the advertisement, remove all online copies, and provide a complete account of where it has appeared. It is not known whether the White House will comply with these requests.
The record shows that an advertisement funded by taxpayers using a song the artist never approved has drawn a cease-and-desist order. That is a situation no one anticipates being caught up in.
The ads are still on the air. The letter is unanswered.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs JMSN’s legal team and is against the White House’s use of taxpayer funds to buy advertisements using a song without the artist’s permission. The artist never gave consent, and the White House has offered no answer to the cease-and-desist letter. The ads remain on the air.
This is not a question of politics. It is a question of property and consent. An artist’s work should not be turned into a political message without their say-so. When the government pays to run a song as part of a campaign, it is treating the artist’s creation as its own instrument. That is a step toward treating individuals as resources rather than rights-holders.
The White House defends the ads as public service announcements, but the content tells a different story. The ads warn against communism, socialism, and Marxism, and they feature Trump’s image and his voice from campaign events and places tied to history. They end with a celebrity endorsement of his toughness. None of that looks like a public service announcement to JMSN.
Source material: “Artist whose song is featured in Trump ad sends cease-and-desist order,” CBS News.
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