Hours before replacing Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, President Trump denied knowledge of a $220 million DHS ad campaign.
Trump said he didn’t recall approving the $220 million budget for the ad campaign at the border.
“I never knew anything about it,” Trump told Reuters in a phone interview.
The White House announced Noem’s removal as DHS secretary on Thursday.
Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin replaced Noem as the new head of DHS.
In a post on X.com, Noem thanked Trump for appointing her as the new Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
Shield of America’s Security Initiative
Trump will officially announce the new Shield of America’s Security Initiative at a news conference on Saturday, March 7, in Doral, Florida.
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill grilled Noem about the ad budget during Tuesday’s hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) asked Noem.
“I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth,” Kennedy added. “It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,'” Kennedy continued.
“The president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from,” Noem explained.
Kennedy said the ads were effective in boosting Noem’s name recognition.
Global news company Semafor discovered the $220 million budget after reviewing documents that were publicly available.
Noem announced the “nationwide and international multimillion-dollar ad campaign” in a post on X.com on February 17.
The $220 million ad campaign was awarded to Louisiana-based People Who Think LLC and Virginia-based Safe America Media LLC.
DHS also allocated $143 million in no-bid contracts to Safe America Media, LLC between February and August 2025. Safe America Media, LLC was created just 8 days before being rewarded the multi-million dollar no-bid contract.
Noem couldn’t answer when a lawmaker asked her where Safe America Media’s headquarters is located.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
“Is there a problem with this contract?” Noem asked Colorado Rep. Joe Neguse during the hearing.
“You want the American people to believe that this is all above board, that $143 million of taxpayer money just happened to go to this one company that doesn’t have a headquarters, doesn’t have a website, has never done work for the federal government before?” Neguse pressed her.
“The reason why I ask these questions is because this is taxpayer money,” he continued. “Eventually the facts will become public in this regard.”
There is no evidence that Safe America Media is tied to Noem’s rumored lover, DHS employee Corey Lewandowski, who is married to Noem’s ex-chief DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
Kristi Noem made the job about her, her hair, her makeup, her outfits, her vanity. It was a giant distraction from the mission.
She did the same sh*t as governor of South Dakota. Once the cameras turned on she forgot about the people and went on a personal PR mission. Not cute.…
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) March 5, 2026
