Trump Administration Overpaid for DHS Warehouses Owned by President's Allies: Report

The Department of Homeland Security spent large sums to buy warehouses used to house detained immigrants. Purchases often exceeded market valuations by substantial margins, including cases where properties had been listed for years. Some transactions involved properties financed with bank debt, so the DHS payments functioned as repayment of existing loans. The purchases were characterized as a way for investors to sell distressed assets and profit from taxpayer-funded investment. Examples include warehouse deals with markups reported as extremely high, including a Pennsylvania property bought at double an estimated market value. The warehouse strategy was described as originating from individuals close to the White House who held loss-making properties, with administration members reported to have investments connected to the relevant funds.

"DHS spent $1 billion in 2026 to buy warehouses to house detained immigrants. In multiple cases, the Department paid a price far higher than a warehouse's market valuation, often on properties that had been up for sale for years, data from activist group Project Salt Box showed. Some of these properties were financed with bank debt, meaning their purchase equated to those loans being paid off. In other words, some of these warehouse sales are effectively acting as a vehicle for these institutions to sell off otherwise distressed assets and profit from taxpayer-funded investment, a report on the data from More Perfect Union reads."

"The report gives multiple specific examples of instances where DHS paid up to a thousand percent markup on warehouses, including one Pennsylvania property bought at double the estimated market value owned by Blue Owl Capital. The investment company gave large donations to Republican congressional groups, while one of its directors was previously on the board of one of Trump's companies. ICE didn't necessarily want to be using warehouses, said Salt Box's Michael Wriston."

"The plan came from folks very close to the White House who were sitting on properties that were causing them losses every year, and the decision was to buy them at taxpayer expense. More Perfect Union cites at least thirty-three members of the president's administration who publicly reported investing in the funds under Blue Owl or the agency that brokers the purchasing deals, with the president himself owning around $5 million in Blue Owl. Blue Owl did not respond to the organization's request for comment."

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