United Airlines, Boeing, and other companies regulated by the Department of Transportation paid to create a reality TV show about DOT Secretary Sean Duffy’s family.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, his wife Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy, and kids star in a new reality series The Great American Road Trip which will be released to YouTube next month, following them on a journey tied to America’s 250th birthday.
It’s produced by the company behind MTV’s The Real World. Sean Duffy was on “The Real World: Boston” and Rachel Campos-Duffy was on “The Real World: San Francisco.” They met filming “Road Rules: All Stars.”
The show was filmed “over the course of seven months,” while he was serving in the Trump cabinet, following Duffy’s family beginning with the Oval Office first with President Trump giving the family a send-off.
They go Montana snowmobiling, take a Mississippi River cruise in St. Louis, visit the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and the Boston firehouse where Duffy lived during The Real World: Boston. There’s a Nashville stop at Kid Rock’s home. DOT says it’s meant to get Americans exploring highways, byways, historic landmarks, and scenic destinations across all 50 states.
Sean Duffy reveals he spent 7 months making a reality TV show while serving as Transportation Secretary pic.twitter.com/3PbQmPKrhV
— FactPost (@factpostnews) May 8, 2026
Duffy was initially just being criticized for taking the time to do this, such as by former DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s husband. And my first thought was that I actually didn’t have a problem with it. I was critical of Duffy’s selection for the role in the first place. Like Buttigieg, he lacked a background in transportation issues. But he’s been a better DOT Secretary than I expected. And he’s apparently the one who saved us from bailing out Spirit – and JetBlue, Frontier and Avelo as well.
However, funding for this effort is… problematic… United Airlines? Boeing? Toyota?
Travel industries regulated by the Department of Transportation are funding a road trip reality show for the (former reality star) Secretary of Transportation??? pic.twitter.com/3m55RJQlth
— David Dayen (@ddayen) May 8, 2026
Duffy isn’t being paid for this. The cost of accomplishing something he wanted to do is being covered, and he’s getting exposure. Meanwhile, these companies aren’t writing checks to Duffy. They’re writing checks to a non-profit that pays the cost of Duffy’s show.
The Department of Transportation regulates airline safety. They decide where to put air traffic control resources. They hand out slots at congested airports. They approve antitrust immunity for joint ventures with foreign carriers. They enforce consumer protection (or don’t).
United gave $1 million to the President’s inauguration. CEO Scott Kirby went on Katie Miller’s podcast – she’s married to Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staff. It was a remarkable transformation for what was once seen as the most ‘woke’ U.S. airline. Kirby pitched President Trump on United buying American Airlines. It’s unlikely that United would have an interest in promoting road trips as an alternative to flying.
The American Bus Association? Sure, they want to see Americans traveling by road. They also have an interest in DOT regulation of buses.
Boeing has certification for the MAX 7 and MAX 10 aircraft upcoming with the FAA. They want the FAA to allow them to increase prodction of 737 MAXs from 42 to 47 per month and beyond. 777X planes will come up for certification, and the agency is gradually returning self-certification authority to the airframe manufacturer.
Toyota of course cares about CAFE fuel economy standards, DOT challenges to California EV mandates, and other vehicle rules.
Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, GM, and Brightline have donated to Duffy’s son-in-law’s congressional campaign – no doubt because of how strong a champion for transportation this political neophyte would be (and his relationship to their regulator is purely coincidental). He’s not even the Republican nominee for the seat yet.
Fatty, is this your first time living in America? I didn’t realise you were new to the country. This is how things work in D.C. and have for a long time now. There is nothing unique about transportation in that regard. It might be the flavour of the month due to the Spirit and other recent news, but, again, no different than any other pay-to-play events in D.C. It is smart business to be frank. I see it in multiple industries.
This is a drop in the bucket compared to over 2/3 of the members of Congress and Senate getting their coffers filled by big pharma.
First two comments above brought to you by the people who lost their shit because Hunter Biden sold some shitty paintings. If you don’t see the problem with this corruption that’s how you know you’re in a cult.
the sad thing is that UA seems to think that all of the attempts at bribing the US government are working.
No other airline has had more DOT related issues go against them in such a short period of time which goes to show that at least some in the government are capable of taking people’s money and still making sure they do their oversight jobs as they are supposed to do.
Imagine if Pete did any of this… y’all would be ‘storming the Capitol’ again.
(And, don’t get me started on the tan suit… or the Dijon mustard…)
@1990 – that would have required Pete to actually BE in DC to do his job. Its sad when even my far lefty friends at DOT have said Duffy is 2000x better than Mayor Pete. I’m still not sure why Dems put this guy on a pedestal, but then again they still support Tim Walz.
Anyone else notice how many KIDS this guy has? Is he a fellow Mormon? Does his wife drive a sprinter to haul everyone around? Holy… and I’ll probably watch it. Its always cool seeing people explore the US.
I agree it’s all corrupt but no idea why this is even reporting? Same with the Scott Kirby flew AA first class article. Of course he did, who cares? He has travel privileges. All execs fly on other carriers too. It’s fine if you hate United, but report on actual topics not this nonsense. That said, not sure why he’d want to fly on American, their product is abysmal. Delta/United are the two carriers, American is the new Spirit (RIP).
So what a bunch of companies made a propaganda film at most. Maybe you all should venture over to YT where propaganda films supported by corporate American were shown before movies have been brought back to life. Everything from steel to apples.
A road trip is pretty benign compared to factories in the 1950s polluting the waterways.
I remember that snotty rachel on real world. That’s all I need to say
Given the unbelievability of haolenate having any friends let alone “far lefty” friends, it’s nice to imagine there is anyone left in government that doesn’t support this pedophile with every fiber of their being.
Kirby is going to have some real problems breathing if his mouth ever gets clogged up, considering that his nose is shoved so far up Duffy’s rear. This whole TV thing is pathetic on a variety of levels, including: Displaying that the SecTrans has time to make TV shows but not do his job, Kirby’s absolute lack of anything resembling a moral, and the blatant corruption of not only these two individuals but this administration as a whole. We didn’t need even more proof of graft and corruption but these two men gave it to us.
Statement from U.S. DOT spokesman Nathaniel Sizemore:
“The series was filmed over the course of many months in small, one day or two stops.”
“Production costs were paid for by the Great American Road Trip, Inc. — not taxpayers. The Secretary and his family do not receive any financial compensation.”
@Mark F — Is that like how the ballroom is paid by donors, but, then, it turns out, actually, nope, taxpayers…
@1990 – you’d need to tell me what the ballroom “security enhancements” that the Senate is proposing to pay for with taxpayer funds. If it’s to increase the Secret Service budget (as reported by Republican senators) to staff up and buy screening and monitoring equipment for an increase in events that will occur in the ballroom then I’m ok with it. If it’s for bricks and mortar, we were misled. The bottom line is we can’t keep having large events in tents on the White House lawn using porta-potties. It’s unsafe (and declasse). Now does it need to be bigger than the Pentagon and covered in gold leaf???
@Mark F — Pentagon? You mean the thing that hasn’t passed an independent audit in like 8 years? Oh, nevermind, someone just said the magic words “‘national security” so they get a blank check, no questions asked. USA! USA! USA!
Gary, being sponsored by the Electronic Payments Coalition has to be the most VFTW angle—after all, that’s where the real money for airlines is!