Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem Says $200 Million Ad Campaign Thanking Trump For ‘Closing The Border’ Was His Idea

The $200 million tax-payer financed Department of Homeland Security ad campaign that aired in late February displayed President Donald Trump walking in slow motion, saluting military personnel, speaking in the White House behind a presidential podium and waving to supporters. The federal ad campaign was premised on encouraging people in the country illegally to leave but signifies a more direct approach from the department to promote pro-Trump propaganda.

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According to Rolling Stone, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said after the Conservative Political Action Conference’s Ronald Reagan Dinner in February that these ads were Trump’s idea. During the administration’s transition to power, the president asked her to star in ads thanking him “for closing the border.”

Noem said that the president told her, “I want you in the ads, and I want your face in the ads … but I want the first ad, I want you to thank me. I want you to thank me for closing the border.”

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The initial ad push, launched in late February, included 30-second and one-minute spots with Noem speaking direct-to-camera. In both versions, she thanks Trump “for securing our border and putting America first” while advising people in the country illegally that “we will find you and we will deport you.”

The longer version also digs at “weak politicians” who “left our borders wide open.”

Last week, data from AdImpact, a tech company that monitors on-air advertising revealed that DHS spent $30,000 “to air the ads in West Palm Beach from February 25 through March 5.” These efforts suggest the Department of Homeland Security wanted Trump to see the agency’s pro-Trump commercial. In total, DHS has spent $1.5 million so far on television, according to data from AdImpact, which tracks political advertising, with another $1.8 million in ads booked for the rest of March.