President Donald Trump’s administration paid for TV ads showing him in a favorable light using money intended for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an official confirmed to NBC News.

The source of the funding for the controversial ads the White House has described as public service announcements was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees CBP, referred requests for comments to the White House, which did not immediately respond.

The unusual ads — one of which is nearly identical to a 2024 Trump campaign ad — include disclaimers stating they were paid for by the U.S. government. The administration’s apparent use of taxpayer money to produce ads that resemble campaign advertisements has drawn bipartisan criticism.

“It’s a great message. I like the message,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters on Monday of the most recent ad, “but it shouldn’t be paid for with taxpayer dollars.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday only Trump would have “the audacity to force Americans not only to watch his propaganda, but to pay for it.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, confirmed the official’s account of the source of funds, saying “It was taken out of funding that was supposed to be for Customs and Border Protection” in the so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill.”

The first of the ads was aired earlier this month and featured Trump describing how he wanted to “defeat communism,” set to the song “Love Me” by JMSN. (Lawyers for JMSN yesterday sent a cease-and-desist letter to the White House telling it to stop using his music.)

The second spot closely tracks a 2024 Trump presidential campaign ad. It shows Trump walking down a hallway as he asks people in a voiceover to join him in his “final battle” to “demolish the deep state” and “expel the warmongers from our government.”

The political ad-tracking firm AdImpact has estimated that the administration has spent more than $1.7 million to run the ads.

Earlier in Trump’s term, DHS used taxpayer money to run a series of ads featuring then-Secretary Kristi Noem encouraging immigrants living illegally in the United States to go home.