The White House diverted funds from Customs and Border Protection for national ads featuring President Donald Trump without alerting senior agency leaders.
A new report from NBC News on Thursday revealed that CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott and other senior leaders were excluded from the decision-making process that led the agency to use its funding for legally ambiguous Trump advertisements.
“They didn’t sign off on it,” a Department of Homeland Security official told NBC News of CBP leaders. “They were thinking, ‘There’s no way they’re going to try to take the funding from CBP for those ads.’”
One White House official told NBC that the ad campaign was the 80-year-old president’s idea and that he picks them himself. CBP leaders, for their part, apparently learned through an article in The Wall Street Journal that their funds had been taken. A White House spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Beast.
The pro-Trump ads did not focus on the border or immigration. They aired on primetime television with the disclaimer “Paid for by the U.S. Government.”
“It’s reminding viewers that there has been a lot done during the first year and a half,” the official told the outlet. “Some of it is a feel-good Americana-type message. It runs the gamut of a lot of different messaging points. And it’s messaging points that are our strongest points.”
A DHS spokesperson told the outlet: “DHS follows all applicable rules for contracting decisions and keeps all decision makers informed. All contracting decisions are made in accordance with applicable law.”
Earlier this week, the White House told the Daily Beast that the ads are public service announcements “reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad.”
A spokesperson added: “The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country.”
Critics have warned that the spots amount to propaganda and may violate federal law. After the ads started airing, senators from both parties criticized the legally ambiguous move.
Democratic senators wrote to the White House demanding answers on how the ads were made and paid for, as critics warned that administration members appeared to be violating the law.
