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Noem’s $220M DHS Ad Campaign Breakdown Shows Horses, Makeup, Magic Store Costs

Lawmakers demand answers as allegations of waste, contracts, and false testimony mount

By Tara Dodrill
Senate Democrats have disclosed new details about the Department of Homeland Security’s spending tied to former Secretary Kristi Noem’s controversial $220 million ad campaign. The former DHS secretary spent approximately $20,000 in taxpayer dollars on horse rentals, according to Newsweek.  Kristi Noem was removed from her role by Donald Trump on March 5, 2026, after testifying under oath that she had his approval to move forward with the advertisements — a claim Trump later denied. A review conducted by Democratic Senators Peter Welch of Vermont and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut outlines how portions of the funding were allocated. According to the senators, Safe America Media — led by longtime Republican strategist Mike McElwain — was awarded a $143 million no-bid contract for the campaign, and then subcontracted the production work to The Strategy Group. Welch and Blumenthal allege that Safe America had only been incorporated a week before securing the contract. The Kristi Noem ads themselves were produced by The Strategy Group, a firm run by Benjamin Yoho, whose wife is former Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. The company reportedly received a $60,000 “signing bonus” as part of its agreement with Safe America Media.

The published Kristi Noem ad expenses list includes:

  • $107,405 — Labor costs to The Strategy Group Company
  • $52,599 — Videography, photography, and production vendors
  • $20,000 — Horse rental
  • $3,781 — Hair and makeup services
  • $500 — Magic Makers, Inc., a magic store based in Sioux Falls, SD
  • $41,852 — Other vendors
“This looks like waste, fraud, and abuse to me,” Senator Welch said. “While leading the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem and her senior team allowed tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to be spent on wasteful production costs, a shady signing bonus, and a very expensive horse rental—and that's just what we know so far.” A DHS spokesperson said in a statement sent to the Daily Mail in response to questions about the Kristi Noem ad expenses said: “Safe America Media and People Who Think are the sole contractors that DHS selected for this ad campaign. By law, DHS cannot and does not determine, control or weigh in on who contractors hire or use to fulfill the terms of the contract. Those decisions are made by the contractor alone.” The ads were designed to warn illegal migrants to leave the United States voluntarily or face consequences. In one commercial, Noem appears on horseback in front of Mount Rushmore, declaring: “We will find you and we will deport you.” The DHS advertising effort has since become the third most expensive federal marketing campaign in the past decade, trailing only COVID public service campaigns and military recruitment ads. Kristi Noem has also been referred to the Justice Department for a potential criminal investigation over alleged perjury related to her claims that Trump approved the spending. “The President tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from, with putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave, or we would detain them and remove them, and they’d not get the chance to come back to America the right way," Noem stated during Senate hearing questions about the expense and approval of the now infamous ad campaign. Leading congressional Democrats have accused Noem of “knowingly making false statements under oath” to Congress. The Kristi Noem added was just one minute long and aired on multiple channels for several months. Meanwhile, Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin was confirmed as Noem’s replacement.

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