Trump's bypass of CBP on ad spending erodes agency legitimacy
By Adele Rutherford · Reporting from Atlanta ·
By bypassing Customs and Border Protection leadership to fund campaign-style advertisements, the Trump administration erodes the very institutional legitimacy it is sworn to protect.
The Trump administration has treated the Department of Homeland Security as a private marketing firm. The administration cut senior Customs and Border Protection leaders out of the decision to fund national ads featuring the president. This is a procedural error that transcends politics. When the executive branch treats agency appropriations—the funds legally designated by Congress for specific public purposes—as a personal campaign chest, it does not just break a rule. It erodes the legitimacy of the institution.
The silence of the agency
The administrative state relies on a chain of command. Senior leaders are not mere figureheads. They are the stewards of their agency's statutory mission. The record from NBC News shows that senior leaders at CBP were excluded from the decision. The agency's funds were used for a national ad buy featuring President Donald Trump. These leaders learned of the initiative through a news report.
This is a breakdown of basic governance. In a functioning bureaucracy, the agency head signs off on the use of agency funds. This ensures the spending matches the mission. By removing the professionals from the room, the administration has replaced oversight with obedience.
The cost of the image
The money for these ads did not come from a general discretionary fund. The record at washingtonpost.com shows that the ads used money approved by Congress for border security upgrades. They also used funds for efforts to combat drug trafficking. Most troubling is the use of funds meant for memorials for officers killed in the line of duty.
The White House describes these as "mensajes de servicio público y educativos," or public service and educational messages, according to the record from ABC Color. President Trump claimed he was "promoviendo el país." But a public service announcement is meant to inform the public about a government service. It is not a vehicle for the image of the president. The Department of Homeland Security allocated funds to this initiative. AdImpact reports the Executive spent funds on ads. An ad features the president, the Armed Forces, and the war with Iran. Using money meant for fallen officers to fund a campaign-style production is not "promoting the country." It is a misappropriation—the unauthorized use of public funds for an unintended purpose—of a sacred fund.
A tool for the next holder
This is the same mechanism as the Trump administration's use of the National Guard for city protests. In both instances, the administration redirected security assets for domestic political optics, sparking controversy over potential abuses of power. The goal was not the mission of the agency, but the visibility of the executive.
This is the danger of the shortcut. A rule that only works while your people hold power was never a rule. If a president can treat officer memorial funds as a campaign chest, the next president can do the same. This mirrors the First impeachment of Donald Trump—the constitutional process of charging a president with high crimes and misdemeanors—where federal resources were used for personal political gain. That case established the danger of treating public office as a private asset. When the executive branch ignores the process to achieve a result, it hands a weapon to every future opponent.
The administration’s claim that it is promoting the country does not excuse the diversion of statutory funds. Money is often appropriated for a specific purpose, like memorials for fallen officers. Using it for a campaign-style ad is a breach of trust. Senate Republican Majority Leader John Thune is correct that this "no debería pagarse con dinero de los contribuyentes." The administration has spent legitimacy capital it cannot replace. By ignoring the process, they have created a tool that will eventually be used against their own successors.