More than $200,000 in taxpayer dollars went to production costs for a one-minute immigration advertisement that featured then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore.
Democratic senators released the spending figures.
The ad was part of a larger campaign meant to tell people in the country illegally to leave or face detention and removal with no chance to return legally.
Noem said during a Senate hearing that President Donald Trump had directed her to put out the message.
Cost Breakdown
Records show that a subcontractor, The Strategy Group, received payments totaling $286,137 for work on the ad.
The list includes:
- $107,405 for labor costs
- $60,000 signing bonus
- $52,599 for videography, photography, and production vendors
- $20,000 for horse rental
- $3,781 for hair and makeup
- $500 to Magic Makers Inc., a store in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
- $41,852 to other vendors
The senators who released the numbers are Peter Welch of Vermont, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, ranking member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Also Read: Trump Fires Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Announces Replacement
Two main companies handled the broader campaign. Safe America Media, based in Delaware, received a $143 million award. People Who Think, based in Louisiana, received a $77 million award. The Strategy Group worked as a subcontractor on production.
Ties to Officials
The chief executive of The Strategy Group is married to Tricia McLaughlin, who served as a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson until she left the job in late February. Noem’s aide Corey Lewandowski has also worked with the company.
The senators wrote to two advertising firms, Strategic Media Services Inc. and Smart Media Group LLC, asking for records on their deals with Safe America Media. Both firms helped place the taxpayer-funded ads that featured Noem.
Noem’s Testimony and Removal
During a Senate hearing earlier this month, Noem told lawmakers that Trump had tasked her with the campaign. Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana asked her directly whether the president had approved it.
Noem was fired by Trump after the hearing. Oklahoma Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin replaced her and was confirmed by the Senate.
Noem has since been named special envoy for a new Trump initiative called The Shield of the Americas, which aims to dismantle cartels that send drugs into the United States.
Also Read: $220Million Ad Saga Leaves Trump Furious, Lands Kristi Noem in Trouble
Trump later said he had not approved the ad campaign. “I wasn’t thrilled with it,” he told reporters. “I spent less money than that to become president. I didn’t know about it.”
The Strategy Group posted on X on March 12 that its charges to Safe America Media had been fair, given the volume of work supplied.
Why It Matters
The spending details have renewed attention on the advertisement that led to Noem’s removal from her post. The numbers also raise questions about how the administration chose contractors and awarded hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds for the campaign.
The contracts went to firms with reported ties to current and former officials, and the full decision-making process behind the selections has not been made public.
