The president has faced backlash from Democrats and even some Republicans about the commercials. The president argued that the television spots, which included one that closely resembled an ad for his 2024 presidential campaign, and another of him and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth advocating for the Iran war, were “a rather standard thing to do.” But he said he had “decided to do the Patriotic Ads, among others, and pay for them myself, and with money I raised for MAGA, Inc.”