Trump transportation secretary stars in patriotic family road trip series

Sean Duffy is bringing his cabinet post, his reality-TV past and his family brand into one patriotic production. The transportation secretary appears with Rachel Campos-Duffy and their nine children in The Great American Road Trip, a five-part series set to air on YouTube around the United States’ 250th anniversary in July.

The trailer dropped Friday, May 8, and frames the project as an “unforgettable civic experience.” It says, “To love America, you have to see America,” while showing the family snowmobiling in the American West, touring Philadelphia landmarks, thanking veterans at a diner, riding waterslides and teasing one another in the back seat. The trailer also includes cameos by Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, country musicians Kid Rock and John Rich, a Benjamin Franklin reenactor and President Donald Trump.

Duffy said he and his family filmed the show over seven months in brief windows, including weekends and school vacations, while he was serving as transportation secretary. The series is tied to America250, alongside a separate campaign aimed at commemorating the country’s 250th anniversary with 250 U.S. stops, and it is being promoted as a patriotic travel project for families who want to “see America.”

The rollout immediately triggered criticism over timing and optics. With gas prices elevated and household costs still a political fault line, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg called the project “brutally out of touch.” Some YouTube commenters mocked the idea of a cabinet secretary fronting a family vacation series while Americans face higher fuel and grocery bills. Duffy answered on X by accusing “the radical, miserable left” of hating America and saying critics do not want families to celebrate the country or teach children civics and patriotism.

The sharper controversy now centers on ethics. Production costs were covered by The Great American Road Trip Inc., a nonprofit whose public sponsor list includes Toyota, Boeing and United Airlines, companies with business ties to the Department of Transportation. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a complaint Monday, May 11, with the Transportation Department’s Office of Inspector General, asking for an investigation into possible violations of federal gift and travel rules. The complaint said the sponsorship structure creates the appearance that regulated companies may be underwriting a family road-trip project starring the secretary himself.

The nonprofit behind the series has also been described as being led by a former transportation-industry lobbyist, deepening questions about influence and conflicts of interest. Duffy, who once appeared on MTV’s The Real World: Boston and Road Rules: All Stars, has helped turn a government office into part of a broader media brand, and the complaint now places that fusion of public power and private spectacle under formal review.