Customs and Border Protection leaders cut out of Trump's PSA ad buy

Senior leaders at Customs and Border Protection were bypassed when a 2024 Trump campaign ad was reworked into a public service announcement, according to a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke to NBC News. The account adds to a growing dispute over taxpayer-funded advertising that critics say resembles political messaging.

NBC News correspondent Julia Ainsley reports that the agency's top officials had no role in the decision to reuse the footage from the earlier campaign spot and present it as a government announcement. The official's account suggests the choice was made elsewhere, though the details of who made it were not given in the segment.

The White House has responded to the controversy by maintaining that the PSA is "not political," even though it appears to look like the campaign ad from two years ago. The matter surfaced as President Donald Trump faces scrutiny on several fronts, and it has drawn attention to how federal money is being spent on messaging that may overlap with his earlier campaign material. The segment aired October 1, 2026, as part of continuing coverage of the ad's origins and purpose.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NBC News’s reporting. Read the full story at NBC News →