{"id":2776,"date":"2026-03-11T10:25:55","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=2776"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:25:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:25:55","slug":"trump-has-questioned-aides-about-corey-lewandowskis-role-in-dhs-ad-campaign-sources-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=2776","title":{"rendered":"Trump has questioned aides about Corey Lewandowski’s role in DHS ad campaign, sources say"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON \u2013 President Donald Trump has peppered aides in recent days about whether longtime adviser Corey Lewandowski profited personally from a $220 million federal\u00a0advertising campaign\u00a0featuring Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired last week, according to three people familiar with his conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s mentioned the ads several times,\u201d a senior White House official said, referring to Trump asking questions about Lewandowski\u2019s role in the ad contract.<\/p>\n

The ads were a repeated focus of lawmakers\u2019 questions during a pair of contentious hearings on Capitol Hill last week that led in part to Trump\u2019s\u00a0decision\u00a0to remove Noem as head of the agency and\u00a0reassign\u00a0her to a role as special envoy to the newly formed \u201cShield of the Americas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump\u00a0told NBC News that he \u201cwasn\u2019t thrilled\u201d when Noem testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee that he had signed off on her expensive ad campaign. Contradicting Noem, he said that he \u201cdidn\u2019t know anything about it\u201d at the time.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, he has grown suspicious about Lewandowski\u2019s role in doling out government contracts, according to the three people familiar with his conversations.<\/p>\n

Lewandowski has served as a \u201cspecial government employee\u201d at DHS for more than a year, operating as a de facto chief of staff to Noem. And DHS officials and lobbyists say he has wielded outsize influence in the awarding of federal contracts.<\/p>\n

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Donald Trump speaks with Lewandowski at a campaign rally in Derry, N.H., in October 2023. (Jabin Botsford \/ The Washington Post via Getty Images file)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an interview with NBC News on Monday, Lewandowski categorically denied that he had made money from DHS contracts.<\/p>\n

Asked if he has ever received \u201cany money from any of the contracts\u201d he has signed off on, Lewandowski told NBC News in an interview, \u201czero, not one penny.\u201d<\/p>\n

The White House declined to comment on Lewandowski\u2019s assertions.<\/p>\n

The ad campaign, which included images of Noem on horseback discussing the American dream and talking tough about cracking down on undocumented immigrants, caught Trump\u2019s attention, and two of the people familiar with his conversations said he has brought it up repeatedly with his advisers. In one instance, he told advisers last week, \u201cCorey made out on that one,\u201d according to another senior White House official.<\/p>\n

Lewandowski told NBC News he had spoken with Trump on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week \u2014 the three days before Noem was fired \u2014 and that the president had not brought up the ads or contracts with him. He also said that it is his own decision whether he leaves DHS with Noem on March 31 and that he has not made up his mind about that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince I\u2019ve known the guy for 11 years, I think it\u2019s fair to say if he had a concern about something I was doing, he would raise it,\u201d Lewandowski said of Trump in the interview.<\/p>\n

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Lewandowski, a special adviser at DHS, listens during the inaugural Americas Counter Cartel Conference at U.S. Southern Command’s headquarters last week. (Joe Raedle \/ Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lewandowski was the first manager on Trump\u2019s first campaign, and the two men have remained personally close \u2014 even after Trump pushed him to the sidelines of his 2024 campaign after Lewandowski had a dust-up with Susie Wiles, his campaign manager and now the White House chief of staff.<\/p>\n

While Trump consistently praises Noem for helping cut off the U.S. border with Mexico, his mounting frustration with her handling of public relations had been spilling into public view for weeks.<\/p>\n

In February, he switched up the team overseeing DHS\u2019 Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis after federal agents shot and killed two American citizens. Since then, Noem has had to fend off reports about her\u00a0acquisition of a luxury jet, her relationship with\u00a0agencies\u00a0within her department and\u00a0stories\u00a0about contracting problems at DHS.<\/p>\n

The ad campaign has also become a focus for Democratic lawmakers, two of whom launched an investigation into three businesses that won contracts from DHS to produce the ads \u2014 Safe America Media, the Strategy Group and People Who Think.<\/p>\n

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Kristi Noem takes part in a sound check as Lewandowski looks on ahead of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 14, 2024. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In letters to the businesses, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Safe America Media signed a $143 million no-bid contract with DHS and subcontracted part of it out to the Strategy Group. They also said People Who Think inked a $77 million no-bid deal with the agency.<\/p>\n

The Strategy Group is run by Ben Yoho, the husband of former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McGlaughlin.<\/p>\n

Welch and Blumenthal wrote that their concerns stem from news reports, including a November story by ProPublica detailing ties between the ad contracts and a firm with connections to Noem. They asked the three businesses to provide documentation of their agreements with DHS, which companies they subcontracted with and whether they had deals in place with Lewandowski.<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on\u00a0NBCNews.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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