Trump administration spent at least $50,000 in taxpayer funds for giant banners featuring Trump's face or policies on federal buildings in Washington DC. Department of Agriculture: $16,400 for two banners featuring Trump and Abraham Lincoln. Department of Labor: about $6,000 for banners on its headquarters, including one pairing Trump's portrait with the words “American Workers First.” Health and Human Services: $33,726 for two 88-foot “Make America Healthy Again” banners promoting Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s slogan rather than Trump's face. Sen. Adam Schiff's report called the spending illegal, citing prohibitions in federal spending laws since 1951 on taxpayer spending “for publicity or propaganda purposes.” The statutes do not define propaganda, the report notes, but “prior prohibited uses of funds have been classified as self-aggrandizement, purely partisan materials, or covert propaganda.” Critics compared to totalitarian dictators.
Trump administration planned additional propaganda banners.
Correction (September 24, 2026): an earlier version of this entry described the Labor Department's banner as 88 feet long. The 88-foot signs are Health and Human Services' “Make America Healthy Again” banners; Labor's roughly $6,000 paid for banners including Trump's portrait over “American Workers First.” The entry's quotation marks, which had been mismatched, have also been fixed.
Update (September 25, 2026): the administration's answers. The Labor Department confirmed it spent roughly $6,000 and said the banners were created for Labor Day and its America250 celebrations. Spokesperson Courtney Parella: “The banners were originally displayed for Labor Day. After tremendous positive response, we're reinforcing the material at no charge to taxpayers, so our big, beautiful banners can securely stay up in celebration of America's 250th birthday.” The White House called Schiff a “serial liar,” CNN reported.