By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON, Associated Press

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security skipped a fully competitive bidding process to give two Republican-linked firms the first part of a $200 million television ad campaign that lauds President Donald Trump for his crackdown on illegal immigration.

DHS told news outlets last month that it had undergone a “competitive procurement process” for the campaign. But in a document posted Friday on a federal database, the department said Trump’s declaration of a national emergency at the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes “an unusual and compelling urgency,” a circumstance that allows federal agencies to bypass the usual competitive process.

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The ads feature Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a blue suit standing with a backdrop of American flags thanking Trump. The ads have caught some attention as they mix campaign-style images of Trump signing executive orders and flying on Air Force One with clips of large groups of migrants crossing the Rio Grande and police cars with sirens blaring.

Noem warns immigrants to leave the U.S. or not to come. “If you are here illegally, we will find you and deport you. You will never return,” she says in one of the videos.

One of the winning firms is People Who Think, LLC, which is owned by Jay Connaughton, a Louisiana-based political consultant who served as media adviser for Trump’s 2016 campaign. Connaughton appeared to have worked as recently as October 2023 with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski in the campaign of Jeff Landry, for governor of Louisiana. Lewandowski, a longtime Noem adviser going back to her tenure as South Dakota governor, mentioned him in a post on X as part of the team that helped elect Landry.

The other firm selected for the contract was Safe America Media, LLC, which was incorporated in Delaware a few days before the solicitation with an address to a property owned by Republican consultant Mike McElwain. Safe America Media has already been awarded $16 million for the ad buy.

Connaughton and McElwain did not respond to messages and calls seeking comment. DHS still called it a “competitive process” in a statement provided to The Associated Press.

“Following a competitive process with multiple companies competing to deliver the best service, product, and price for American taxpayers, Safe America Media and People Who Think both earned a shared contract for this targeted national and international campaign,” it said. “Multiple career government officials oversaw this competitive procurement process.”

The document posted on a federal contracting database reads in part: “DHS requires an immediate domestic and international campaign to direct illegal aliens within the U.S. and its territories to leave immediately, and to discourage illegal immigration into the country.”

DHS reviewed industry publications and vendors specializing on hyper-targeted media and advertising services and narrowed its search down to four companies that were able to work immediately.

“Any delay in providing these critical communications to the public will increase the spread of misinformation,” the document says.

President Donald Trump, from left, holds the new FIFA Club World Cup official ball as FIFA President Gianni Infantino and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watch in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 7, 2025. (Pool via AP)

Noem shared the story behind the ad campaign at the Conservative Political Action Conference last month. She said she had suggested conducting more news conferences to keep the public posted on its immigration actions, but Trump asked for those ads “to make sure the American people know the truth of what you’re doing.”

“But he said, ‘I want the first ad, I want you to thank me. I want you to thank me for closing the border.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. I will thank you for closing the border.’”

Most of the money spent so far in airing the ads has been on English-language TV stations with more than $2 million, compared to the $360,000 spent to air them in Spanish-language stations around the country, data from ad-tracking firm AdImpact shows.

The data shows it has aired the most in TV stations in Phoenix, Boston, Los Angeles, New York and Dallas. It has also been tracked running on Fox News in larger markets, with most airings captured in the Washington and Philadelphia areas.

Associated Press writer Byron Tau in Washington contributed to this report.

From B’s Barbershop to Pino’s Pizzeria and Allegra Printing, the remaining commercial tenants at the Alliance Bank Center in downtown St. Paul were informed late Monday afternoon they should “immediately vacate the premises” as the 16-story building — which offers a major skyway connection — will lose all heating, cooling and electricity on Wednesday.

Shop owners and business proprietors received an otherwise unsigned notice from “Alliance Center LLC” — the limited liability corporation owned by Madison Equities — around 4 p.m. Monday encouraging them to pack up and leave, followed by a notice of “power shut-off” issued by the city of St. Paul.

“If the power is shut off, the building’s management company, Madison Equities, plans to walk away, and the bank … will not assume ownership,” reads the notice issued Monday by the St. Paul Fire Department. “This will result in the building being left vacant with no protection systems in place or maintenance being conducted.”

The news came as a nasty surprise to business owners, some of whom said Monday night they were at a loss to understand how a tobacco store, print shop, jewelry store and other longstanding tenants would relocate heavy equipment or myriad supplies in less than two days. Their leases, they noted, were month-to-month, not overnight.

Small businesses out of business

In addition to office tenants, “you’re putting 14 small businesses out of business,” said Bob Wolf, owner of the Greenwolf Hemp and Organics holistic products store, which has operated out of a skyway storefront in the Alliance Bank Center for the past five years. “Someone’s got to step up. This is crazy. I saw the look on people’s faces. They’re just heartbroken.”

Through the foreclosure process, Madison Equities has lost various properties to lenders in recent months even as it attempts to unload the majority of its downtown portfolio.

The company, long known as downtown St. Paul’s largest property owner, placed 10 buildings on the market together en masse last April following the January 2024 death of company principal James Crockarell.

At the time it went up for sale, the Alliance Bank Center’s 300,000 square feet of commercial space was about 44% occupied, according to the sales offering. Major tenants have, until recently, included the accounting firm Red Path, which relocated its headquarters months ago to the Securian Financial building.

Alliance Bank also moved its bank branch out of the building that now bears its name and into Wells Fargo Place on East Seventh Street.

Madison Equities blames city

Alliance Bank Center, located at 55 E. Fifth St. and once the home of Wells Fargo Bank and its predecessor, carried an estimated market value of $8 million last year. It was sold to Madison Equities in February 2020 for $4.1 million. It offers a major skyway connection between Osborn Plaza on Wabasha Street, over Cedar Street and on toward Minnesota Street, raising concerns about the loss of skyway access at a time when downtown residents are increasingly hard-pressed to find accessible skyway entrances.

The building’s announced closure is the latest setback to befall downtown St. Paul in the era of remote work, coming just three days after Lunds and Byerlys said it would exit Lowertown, leaving downtown without a grocery store.

Tenants of Madison Equities’ residential and commercial properties have long accused the property owner of neglecting maintenance and mismanaging some of downtown’s most iconic properties, several of which are low on or completely devoid of lease-holders. Legal fights have also erupted in recent years over the company’s management of security guards.

On Monday, Madison Equities cast blame on the city for not stepping up to pay the private property owner’s utility bills, and issued notice that “landlord Alliance Center, LLC is facing significant hardships due to the deteriorating condition of downtown St. Paul and the flight of tenants away from the Central Train Station that is located across the street from the Alliance Bank Building.”

“You should also know that the landlord has been in contact with representatives of the city of St. Paul and have asked the city of St. Paul to step in and help pay utilities at the building for the benefits of all of you. Unfortunately, the city of St. Paul has so far refused to provide any financial assistance to maintain utilities at the property.”

The notice indicates that Madison Equities had reached out to its lender, Royal Credit Union, which “has shown no interest in providing any additional funding for the building.”

Storeowners hope city will help with relocation

Late Monday night, some storeowners who close shop before 4 p.m. had yet to come across the notice that they’d been ordered out.

“There’s been rumors they’re going to turn off our electricity,” said Bilal Saleem, better known as Mr. B, who has run B’s Barbershop downtown for nearly 20 years and in the Alliance Bank Center for eight of them. “I’ve had other business owners call me but that’s all I know.”

Saleem took news of the Alliance Bank Center closure in stride, noting he had already made arrangements to relocate to the Town Square building at 445 Minnesota St. by April 1. For that to happen, he needs city inspectors to greenlight a wash sink or shampoo station and multiple electrical outlets in his new space.

“They can’t move forward until the inspectors come, and the inspectors are taking their time,” he said.

Saleem and Wolf both predicted they would land on their feet, but they hoped the city would at least help businesses fast-track relocation to Town Square and other properties downtown, if not help find a buyer for the Alliance Bank Center, which dates to 1967.

“I don’t know anybody who is going to be able to move in the dark on Wednesday,” Wolf said, noting a ground-floor tenant sells tobacco. “A tobacco store has thousands of products. It’s sad.”

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After one of the worst single day sell-offs in Tesla’s history, President Donald Trump threw his support behind his advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, vowing to buy one of his cars on Tuesday.

Tesla has been pummeled this year under competition from rival electric vehicles, particularly out of China, as well as his close association with Trump and with far right causes globally.

Shares have plummeted 45% in 2025 and on Monday tumbled more than 15% to $222.15, the lowest since late October, reflecting newfound pessimism as sales crater around the globe.

In an overnight post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Musk is “putting it on the line” to help the country. Trump claimed in the post that “Radical Left Lunatics” were attempting to “illegally and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the World’s great automakers, and Elon’s ‘baby.”

The stock climbed more than 3% before the market open on Tuesday.

Numerous auto industry analysts have attributed Tesla’s recent sagging stock — and auto sales — to Musk’s support of Trump and other far right candidates around the world. In recent days, Tesla showrooms in the U.S. have been besieged by protesters, its vehicles vandalized on the street. Tesla owners, perhaps in a bid to avoid being targeted, have placed bumper stickers on their cars with messages like, “I bought it before Elon went nuts.”

Federal prosecutors charged a woman in connection with a string of vandalism against a Colorado Tesla dealership, which included Molotov cocktails being thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray painted on the building.

Musk pumped $270 million into Trump’s campaign heading into the 2024 election, appeared on stage with him and cheered Trump’s victory over Democratic candidate Kamala Harris in November. Tesla stock soared to $479 per share by mid-December, but have since lost 45% of their value.

Musk has become the face of the Trump administration’s slash-and-burn government downsizing efforts, known as the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. The department has promised massive federal worker layoffs and aims to drastically reduce government spending.

Analysts have said Musk’s shift to right-wing politics doesn’t appear to sit well with potential Tesla buyers, generally perceived to be wealthy and progressive consumers.

Tesla sales are falling precipitously in California, the company’s biggest U.S. market, and the company recorded its first annual global sales decline last year. Similarly, Tesla sales plunged 45% in Europe in January, according to research firm Jato Dynamics, even as overall electric vehicle sales rose. The sales numbers were particularly bad in Germany and France.

The latest auto sales figure from China show that Tesla sales there have been nearly halved from February a year ago, although the decline is largely due increased competition from domestic EV companies.

But sales in the U.S. have fallen due to competition, and a country sharply divided about Trump.

U.S. Analysts at UBS Global Research expect deliveries to fall 5% in the first quarter and full year compared to the same periods for 2024.

“Our UBS Evidence Lab data shows low delivery times for the Model 3 and Model Y (generally within two weeks) in key markets which we believe is indicative of softer demand,” they wrote.

In addition to backing Trump, Musk has also shown support for the far-right, pro-Russian, anti-Muslim party in German y, called the British p rime minister an “evil tyrant” and called Canada — a major Tesla market —”not a real country.”

Tesla is not the only Musk-led company to run into trouble recently. His X social media platform crashed several times on Monday, which Musk claimed was a “massive” cyberattack. But like the clear-cutting he’s done with federal jobs, Musk slashed the number of employees at X and technology experts warned of increased vulnerability.

Last week, a rocket launched by Musk’s SpaceX exploded and broke apart over Florida, about two months after another of the company’s rockets failed.

After making a few savvy moves on Monday, the Vikings wasted very little time making a splash on Tuesday.

As most Minnesota were still driving to work, Vikings announced that they have agreed to terms with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jonathan Allen. It’s a 3-year, $60 million for Allen, who was recently released by the Washington Commanders.

It’s a worthwhile risk for the Vikings considering how much they have struggled to generate pressure in the trenches.

Since being selected in the first round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Allen has recorded 42 sacks, 60 tackles for a loss, and 118 quarterback hits across 108 starts. Though some might think he’s prime at 30 years old, there’s reason to believe Allen could be revitalized playing for coordinator Brian Flores.

There’s also some intangible qualities that Allen brings to the table, including his leadership and his toughness. After suffering a torn pectoral muscle last season, for example, Allen worked his way back from the injury much faster than expected, playing a key role for the Commanders in the playoffs.

It’s worth noting that because Allen was released by the Commanders earlier this offseason, he does not count against the Vikings in the formula used for determining compensatory picks next offseason.

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