Homeland Security funds Trump ads, sparking bipartisan scrutiny

U.S. Customs and Border Protection used taxpayer money to fund pro‑Trump television ads that have drawn bipartisan scrutiny just weeks before the November midterm election, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. President Donald Trump personally pushed for the ads and was involved in their creation, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The $20 million contract awarded to Maryland‑based LMD Agency on Sept. 20 for a “National Media Campaign” was fully funded at the time of the award, the public contract record shows. The campaign features ads that highlight Trump’s tax cuts, attack communism, and recycle language from his 2024 race, with one spot proclaiming “America will never be a communist country” and another reviving his “final battle” message. The spots have already aired thousands of times nationally and locally, and CNBC previously reported that more than $1.2 million had been spent airing two of the spots, according to AdImpact.

Democrats and at least one Republican senator have called for investigations into whether money appropriated for border protection is being used to promote the president’s political message. Sens. Patty Murray, D‑Wash., and Chris Murphy, D‑Conn., wrote in a letter to DHS on Tuesday that the department tapped money provided to CBP through Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.” The White House defended the campaign Tuesday, calling the spots public service announcements that remind Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.

Read the full story at cnbc.com.