The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that with just a few weeks left until the mid-term elections in November, taxpayer funds from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are being used to support pro-Trump television advertisements, which has drawn scrutiny from both parties.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter, President Donald Trump personally promoted these advertisements and was involved in their production.
This news implies that CBP, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ), has become the source of funding behind a promotional campaign that is distinctly different from its traditional public communications. CBP usually publishes advertisements aimed at discouraging illegal immigration, and these advertisements feature a large presence of Trump's image, promoting his tax cut policies, criticizing communism, and repeatedly using the rhetoric he used during his 2024 campaign.
One of the advertisements claims, "The United States will never become a communist country," with images of Trump filling the screen. Another advertisement repurposes his slogan from the 2024 campaign, "The Final Battle," and attacks political establishment and the news media.
These advertisements have been broadcast thousands of times on national and local channels. CNBC Previously reported that, according to data from AdImpact which tracks political advertising spending, the cost of broadcasting these two advertisements has exceeded $1.2 million.
Democrats, as well as at least one Republican senator, are questioning whether taxpayer funds should be used to fund advertisements that center around Trump. Some Democratic members of Congress are currently calling for an investigation to determine whether funds originally allocated for border protection have been used to promote the president's political messaging.
"It appears that the Department of Homeland Security has invested 20 million dollars in this outrageous plan," wrote Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state, and Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, in a letter to the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday. They stated that the department utilized funds provided to CBP from a "grand and beautiful bill" ( One Big Beautiful Bill Act ) authored by Republicans.
On Tuesday, the pressure also spread to federal regulatory agencies. The watchdog organization Public Citizen submitted complaints to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) urging broadcasting stations to stop airing these advertisements; at the same time, last Friday, the organization also requested that the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (Office of Special Counsel) investigate whether such practices violate federal advertising regulations as well as the Hatch Act (Hatch Act). The Hatch Act restricts federal government employees from participating in political campaign activities.
The White House defended this promotional campaign on Tuesday, stating that these advertisements were considered public service announcements.
"These public service advertisements are intended to remind Americans to love their country and to understand what makes this country worth defending both within its borders, at its borders, and overseas," a White House spokesperson said to CNBC. "This advertisement is educational, and it does not hide its patriotic stance at all. We should be proud of our country."
CBP did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
