Got a story? Contact Tom in complete confidence on Signal, Threema, or at punchuptom@proton.me.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House have been caught misleading us over the eye-watering true cost of Kristi Noem’s notorious luxury mile-high jet, which Donald Trump has now re-gifted to his wife.
DHS and the White House had been content to let the public believe DHS had picked up Noem’s infamous plane, which features a bedroom and which she had been leasing before she was fired as Homeland Security Secretary last month, for $70 million. As reported by the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, it will now be used by Melania—and some lucky members of Trump’s cabinet.
A spokesperson for DHS—which has a documented history of providing false statements—said: “ICE purchased this plane before Secretary Mullin was confirmed for $70 million.”
The full cost of the plane, according to two senior administration officials speaking to PunchUp on condition of anonymity, is $108 million. That’s $38 million, or 54 percent, higher than DHS and the White House have claimed…
The officials confirmed that the White House had “decided to buy” the plane, but that ICE was still on the hook to pay for it.
“The White House is essentially telling ICE: you didn’t have any say, but fuck you, pony up the cash and hand over the keys,” one said.