DHS Dares White House to Audit ICE Barbie's Millions in Ads

Source: Daily Beast

Published Mar. 21 2026 11:16AM EDT


Senior Department of Homeland Security officials have challenged the White House to launch a “full audit” of the vast advertising contract that led to Kristi Noem being forced from her job.

The sources also alleged deep White House involvement in the ads, contradicting claims by President Donald Trump that he knew nothing about them.

The ads, one of which featured Noem, 54, sitting on horseback close to Mount Rushmore, included footage of DHS immigration operations, migrants crossing the border, drug raids, and Trump raising his fist after his 2024 assassination attempt, with Noem thanking him repeatedly for keeping the country safe. Encouraging migrants in America illegally to self-deport, it warned: “We will find you and we will deport you.”

The $143 million contract for the ads is now at the center of a bitter civil war over who authorized them—and crucially whether Donald Trump gave them the go-ahead. The Daily Beast has been told by sources close to the administration that, contrary to his own public claims of ignorance, Trump did know about the ads, backing up Noem’s own version of events which she gave under oath.

Read more: https://www.thedailybeast.com/dhs-dares-white-house-to-audit-ice-barbie-kristi-noems-millions-in-ads/