Washington. US President Donald Trump will have to stop TV advertisements being run from the government treasury to promote his political message. A federal court in New York on Sunday night ordered the administration to immediately stop all such advertisements, which are yet to be aired. The special thing is that the administration had already said that the advertising campaign is going to end soon. Despite this, the court made it clear that all other advertisements, including those aired on Sunday night, would have to be cancelled.
Questions raised on political campaigning with public money
This entire matter is related to those TV advertisements on which millions of dollars of taxpayers' money were spent. Trump's political message was being conveyed to the people through these advertisements. Questioning this expenditure, a coalition approached the court. The non-partisan monitoring organization Common Cause was also included in this alliance. The petitioners alleged that using government funds in this manner is against the rules and should be considered as improper use of public funds.
Administration got clear order to stop advertising
US District Court Judge Jennifer L. Rochon considered the petitioners' arguments and ruled against the administration. He issued a temporary restraining order, requiring the administration to cancel all remaining TV advertisements. The order also included those advertisements which were to be aired on Sunday night. That is, despite the administration announcing the end of the advertising campaign, the court took steps to ensure that no further advertisements were aired.
Now keep an eye on government expenditure and use of political message
The case has raised questions about the boundary between use of government money and political campaigning. The complaining organizations say public money cannot be used in what they consider an inappropriate way to promote a political message. The immediate effect of the court order is that the administration will have to stop the remaining advertisements. However, according to available information, this order has been issued as a temporary ban. What happens next in the case will depend on the next steps in the judicial process.