Donald Trump’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is flush with cash after the president signed his so-called Big Beautiful Bill, so it should probably come as no surprise that the agency has decided to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on new trucks to showcase in social media posts.
The Department of Homeland Security posted a video Thursday on X featuring music by rapper DaBaby and footage of a Ford Raptor pickup truck and GMC Yukon SUV traveling the streets of Washington, D.C., and parked outside the White House and the U.S. Capitol. The trucks, which have the same color scheme as Trump’s private jet, sport ICE’s logo and the phrase: “Defend the Homeland.” The words “President Donald J. Trump” appear on the back window of at least one of the vehicles.
The Homeland Security Department’s thread directs users to ICE’s job recruiting website, as it works toward hiring 10,000 officers. Another post with images of the trucks declares: “We will have our country back.”
ICE has new marked vehicles… and they’re sporting the same paint job as Trump’s personal jet. Subtle. pic.twitter.com/1vKBy3RMr4
— alex (@ajhoward121) August 14, 2025
In the past two weeks, Trump’s administration spent $384,000 on new Ford Raptors and GMC Yukons for “recruitment purposes,” according to federal procurement data. The administration also spent $182,000 this week on “graphic wrap design and application for law enforcement vehicles.”
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Under the Big Beautiful Bill, Trump’s legislation to slash taxes for the rich and health care for the poor, the administration received tens of billions of dollars to hire thousands of new ICE agents. Trump officials are now seeking to recruit agents all over the country, from coast to coast, border to border, to supercharge the president’s militarized immigration crackdown.
The decision to parade new ICE trucks around the nation’s capital comes as Trump has troops in the streets and is leading a federal takeover of Washington because a group of teenagers allegedly beat up a Trump administration staffer known as “Big Balls.”
A $560,000 expense on trucks and wraps the administration can use in social media posts looks downright frugal compared to the $200 million that DHS is spending on ads thanking Trump for deporting immigrants. (Those ad buys are being placed by the firm that bought most of the ads for Trump’s 2024 campaign.)
The Trump administration also spent up to $45 million on a military parade through D.C. on the president’s birthday.
From Rolling Stone US
