WASHINGTON-The Trump administration used federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security to finance a set of controversial pro-Trump advertisements that recently began airing on television, according to people familiar with the matter.

The taxpayer money used to fund the ads that started airing last week came from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an arm of DHS that oversees the Border Patrol and customs and immigration at airports, the people said.

U.S. Customs routinely runs television and radio advertisements discouraging foreigners from migrating to the U.S. and telling immigrants illegally in the country to self-deport. The pro-Trump ads center on themes that are broader than the agency's typical focus on immigration.

President Trump personally pushed for the ads and has been involved in their creation, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The Trump ads have drawn public scrutiny in recent days because they include the unusual disclaimer "paid for by the U.S. government." Critics say the ads may violate laws including the Hatch Act, which prohibits executive-branch employees from using their jobs to promote political causes.

The White House has referred to the ads as public-service announcements.

"These public-service announcements are about reminding Americans to love their country and understand what makes it worth defending, at home, at our borders, and abroad," the White House said. "The ad is educational and unapologetically patriotic. We should be proud of our country." DHS declined to comment, referring to the White House's statement.

One of the ads, a version of which was posted on the White House YouTube channel, featured dozens of images of the president at White House events. The president declares, "America will never be a communist country," as a choir sings the song "Love Me" in the background.

Another spot is almost identical to a video that the president promoted on social media during his 2024 presidential campaign. It features a black-and-white video of Trump walking, with the president's voice declaring "the final battle." Trump vows to "throw off the sick political class that hates our country" and "rout the fake news media."

A third ad includes images of Mount Rushmore, with Trump narrating that "the United States of America is the most successful, most accomplished, most exceptional nation ever to exist in human history."

By Sunday evening, the ads had aired nearly 90 times across national television networks, including Fox, Newsmax, MS Now and CBS, at an estimated cost of $337,000, according to ad-tracking firm iSpot. TV. The commercials have also run extensively on local television stations, with 2,311 airings, according to AdImpact, a firm that tracks political ads. An estimated $1.4 million is behind the local ads, according to a modeled estimate from AdImpact.

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Gil Kerlikowske, who led Customs and Border Protection during the Obama administration, said using U.S. Customs funds for the ads of this kind is "totally unprecedented." He said that when he met with congressional appropriators during his tenure, it was clear that money appropriated by Congress needed to be used for official U.S. Customs duties, border protection and technology development.

The ads have drawn criticism from Democrats and some Republicans, who have objected to the use of taxpayer dollars to pay for them. In a letter sent Tuesday to Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, top Democratic appropriators Sens. Patty Murray (D., Wash.) and Chris Murphy (D., Conn.) wrote that "using government funding to create or air political ads like the ones that have been running over the last few days is illegal and a shockingly corrupt misuse of taxpayer dollars."

Murray and Murphy wrote that it appeared DHS had dedicated $20 million to the ads, using funds provided to CBP from Republicans' tax and spending legislation last year, that were intended "for commemorative events relating to border security." They called for the ads to be taken off the air immediately and sent a list of questions to DHS, including whether a general counsel at department, another agency or the White House had provided a legal opinion on DHS funding for the ads.

Democracy Forward, a legal nonprofit that has sued the Trump administration in the past, said this week that it had submitted public-records requests related to the ads. Democracy Forward Chief Executive Skye Perryman said the ads raise questions about whether the administration unlawfully treated public funds as a "personal political war chest."

DHS has previously come under scrutiny for a more than $200 million ad campaign that promoted then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. In one of the ads, Noem introduced herself, thanked Trump for securing the border and encouraged immigrants in the U.S. illegally to leave or face deportation.

The ad campaign ultimately contributed to Noem's ouster as head of DHS, after she suggested that the president had signed off on it during her congressional testimony. Those remarks angered Trump and sped up the timeline for Noem's firing, the Journal previously reported.