Kristi Noem was mid-sentence praising Donald Trump‘s border triumphs before a packed law enforcement conference in Nashville when the news flashed across the country Thursday: the President had just fired her, making her the first cabinet casualty of his second term.
She spoke in glowing terms about the Trump agenda as she fielded questions from an audience apparently unaware she had minutes earlier been shown the door. ‘In his State of the Union Address just last week, President Trump reminded us what it is every Americans duty to do and that is to serve the American people,’ Noem said.
The ousted Homeland chief wore a poker face throughout, though she did flash a smile when one of the officers told her she was his ‘dream woman.’
Trump announced on Truth Social that Senator Markwayne Mullin would take over as DHS Secretary on March 31, while Noem would shift to Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, a new Western Hemisphere security initiative to be unveiled Saturday in Doral, Florida.
‘The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas’ Trump wrote. ‘I thank Kristi for her service.’
After her speech in Nashville, Noem posted on X thanking Trump for giving her the new job and claiming that she ‘delivered the most secure border in American history.’
Noem had faced a drubbing before the Senate and House Judiciary Committee’s on Tuesday and Wednesday where she was confronted by Republicans over issues repeatedly highlighted in the Daily Mail’s exclusive reporting: the deadly immigration crackdown, lavish spending, and her alleged affair with aide Corey Lewandowski.
The last straw came when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that Trump had personally approved a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign that featured her prominently and was widely seen as a vehicle to boost her national profile. Trump flatly denied it. ‘I never knew anything about it,’ he said.
The last straw came when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that Trump had personally approved a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign that featured her prominently
Trump (pictured in the White House Thursday) just moments earlier announced on Truth Social that he was nominating Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem
Lewandowski attends the election night watch party for Donald Trump at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on November 5, 2024
The cinematic ad showed Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore and galloping beside a stampede of bison in a cowboy hat.
The contract was awarded to an LLC that subcontracted with a firm run by the husband of DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who resigned shortly before Noem’s ouster.
Noem squirmed under the Louisiana senator’s slow-burning drawl as he methodically dismantled her defense line by line.
‘The President approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?’ Kennedy asked.
Noem replied: ‘Yes sir, we went through the legal processes.’
Kennedy shot back: ‘Did the President know you were gonna do this?’
Noem claimed that Trump did, and Kennedy, his voice rising in mock astonishment, asked again: ‘He did?’
The Homeland chief replied: ‘Uh huh, yes.’
The Daily Mail has broken multiple stories on Kristi Noem’s turbulent tenure as the Department of Homeland Security Secretary
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rides a camel before touring Qal’at al-Bahrain Fort near Manama on May 25
Even Noem’s defenders were stunned by the savagery of her Congressional grilling.
‘He just kicked the teeth out of her,’ one insider said of Kennedy. ‘That came out of nowhere.’
Officials within DHS and ICE are celebrating the news of Noem’s departure, sources told the Daily Mail.
‘Everyone is happy, lots of smiles,’ said a source at the department’s headquarters where staff were cheering.
‘Morale had taken a hit. There’s a feeling among a lot of folks here that the department can finally reset and refocus on operations instead of internal turmoil.’
There’s also an expectation that Lewandowski will follow her out the door.
‘He will go because he knows Mullin will toss him,’ the source said.
Another DHS insider said Trump had been preparing to fire her for days, but that her performance at the Senate Tuesday ‘gave him cover’ to do so immediately.
Meanwhile, an ICE official at the department’s headquarters told Daily Mail: ‘Crowds are celebrating. Lots of phone calls. Texts. People stopping by to celebrate.’
The ‘last straw’ for Trump came when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that she’d been given the President’s approval for a $220 million taxpayer-funded campaign designed to boost her national profile (pictured). ‘I never knew anything about it,’ Trump told Reuters in an interview
Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) as prisoners stand, looking out from a cell, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26
Trump announced that Senator Markwayne Mullin will be nominated to become the next DHS Secretary
The backlash began in January when Noem’s agents shot and killed two Americans, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, during immigration operations in Minnesota.
Trump had moved quickly to install border czar Tom Homan in a damage-limitation role after Noem branded Pretti a ‘domestic terrorist,’ a characterization that backfired spectacularly.
Noem claimed she had merely echoed the line of deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, a deflection that carried its own risks given Miller’s towering standing in the administration.
The White House grew tired of weekly stories of scandal and infighting, as Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles had long had enough of her theatrics.
‘It’s like who doesn’t she fight with,’ a source told the Daily Mail.
Noem has been labeled as ‘ICE Barbie’ for myriad photoshoots showing Noem in full makeup, posing with guns and bulletproof vests
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem rides on the USCG MSRT Small Boat in South Bay, San Diego, California, March 16
Trump chose Mullin partially to avoid a confrontational Senate confirmation process, one source told the Daily Mail.
A source familiar with the matter said Trump settled on Mullin because he comes from a safe seat in heavily Republican Oklahoma and ‘looks good on television.’
‘This is super high-risk. The department is shut down,’ the source said. ‘They went to the reddest state in the union to replace her.’
Noem’s firing comes as the vast majority of the department remains shuttered due to a lapse in congressional funding. The source said Mullin could be the figure who gets DHS up and running again.
