UPDATE 2-Trump tells Reuters he did not sign off on border security ad campaign

Noem ⁠was ​questioned by ⁠both Democrats and Republicans before a Senate panel on Wednesday ⁠about the contract and process to select the companies. The ads ​prominently featured Noem, including in a scene filmed ⁠on horseback at Mount Rushmore in the former South ⁠Dakota governor's ​home state. Noem said on Tuesday that the contract was awarded through "a competitive process" and ⁠that no political appointees were involved.

President ‌Donald Trump on ​Thursday told Reuters that he did not sign off ‌on a border security advertising campaign featuring U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. "I never knew anything about it," Trump ‌told Reuters in a phone interview.

Noem - a top ‌official overseeing Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown - has faced scrutiny from lawmakers about the campaign, on which the government spent $220 million. Noem ⁠was ​questioned by ⁠both Democrats and Republicans before a Senate panel on Wednesday ⁠about the contract and process to select the companies.

The ads ​prominently featured Noem, including in a scene filmed ⁠on horseback at Mount Rushmore in the former South ⁠Dakota governor's ​home state. Noem said on Tuesday that the contract was awarded through "a competitive process" and ⁠that no political appointees were involved. On Wednesday, she said ⁠the ⁠contract was "all done correctly, all done legally."

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