Kristi Noem’s advert marketing campaign sparks one other MAGA civil struggle as DHS officers declare Trump did learn about $200 million spend, report says | EUROtoday

Department of Homeland Security officers have claimed that President Donald Trump knew about Kristi Noem’s $200 million advert marketing campaign, which contributed to her dismissal earlier this month, in line with a brand new report.

The controversial commercials started hitting the airwaves early final 12 months, with one that includes Noem on horseback close to Mount Rushmore, warning unlawful immigrants to remain away. They ranked among the many costliest authorities promoting blitzes in historical past, elevating eyebrows throughout the aisle.

When Trump fired Noem from DHS on March 5, an unnamed senior administration official advised NBC News that the expensive advert marketing campaign was a key issue — alongside her dealing with of the Minnesota immigration crackdown and alleged feuds with different businesses.

The president himself stated he was unaware of the huge sums that have been spent, telling the outlet: “I wasn’t thrilled with it. I spent less money than that to become president. I didn’t know about it.”

Noem, nevertheless, disputed this account, telling lawmakers throughout congressional hearings forward of her firing that the 79-year-old billionaire president was absolutely briefed on her division’s promotional offensive.

Now, a number of individuals have come ahead to again up the ousted DHS chief, who has been tapped to function the particular envoy to the Shield of the Americas, a brand new initiative targeted on hemispheric safety.

Unnamed sources near the administration advised The Daily Beast that Trump had been briefed on the DHS advertisements and was deeply concerned in them — immediately contradicting his personal account.

One stated that the president “knew about the campaign and wanted it to happen.”

“The big question we are all asking is where did that money go?” a senior DHS official advised the outlet.

“We would be happy to have a full audit on this tomorrow, going into every single penny of the award, including where it went,” the official added. “Everyone at DHS is happy to turn over our taxes and bank records — but only the White House can agree to that — will they want to?”

Contracts for the marketing campaign have been reportedly delivered to a hand-picked cluster of corporations with ties to Noem and a prime adviser.

One of the companies, Safe America Media, was awarded not less than $16 million for the marketing campaign, in line with The Associated Press. It was established by Mike McElwain, a GOP operative, simply days earlier than the profitable contract was doled out.

McElwain’s long-standing enterprise accomplice, Pat McCarthy, has connections to a number of of the president’s shut aides, The Daily Beast reported.

According to the outlet, the White House, in February 2025, ordered that Safe America Media “be considered” for the DHS advert marketing campaign — and later accepted the agency as soon as chosen.

When requested for remark, a White House spokesperson advised the outlet: “Contracts are awarded by individual agencies. The White House has no involvement in an agency’s contract decisions.”

The Independent has reached out to DHS and the White House for remark and tried to achieve Noem.

Noem’s personal messaging on the ads has been constant over time.

In a lately resurfaced interview from February 2025, she claimed the multi-million greenback marketing campaign was Trump’s personal thought.

Noem stated the president advised her: “I want you to do those [ads] for the border. I want you to do those everywhere, not just in the United States, but I want them around the world.”

“And I said, ‘Well, sir, do you want to be in those ads?’” Noem stated. “He said ‘nope, nope. I want you to do them.’”

Since her departure from DHS, the previous South Dakota governor has not publicly pushed again in opposition to the administration. But, an unnamed official advised The Daily Caller that she felt “thrown under the bus.”

Earlier this week, a number of Democratic lawmakers referred Noem to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation, claiming that she “misled” Congress in regards to the advertisements in a “brazen” bid to keep away from accountability.