Excruciating moment Kristi Noem touts Trump’s agenda on stage just minutes after he FIRED HER
As Kristi Noem was mid-sentence praising Donald Trump’s border victories ahead of a law enforcement conference in Nashville, word spread across the country on Thursday: The president had just fired her, making her the first cabinet casualty of his second term.
Noem was addressing officers at the Sergeant’s Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference, answering questions from the floor and giving no indication that she had been shown the door.
Trump spoke in glowing terms about his agenda while answering questions from an audience seemingly unaware that he had been shown the door minutes earlier. “Last week, in his State of the Union Address, President Trump reminded us what the duty of every American is, and that is to serve the American people,” Noem said.
The suspended Homeland Security Chief had a blank expression throughout, but smiled when one of the officers told him she was his ‘dream woman’.
Trump announced on Truth Social that he has nominated Senator Markwayne Mullin, while Noem will move to the newly created position of Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
After her speech in Nashville, Noem posted on X thanking Trump and claiming that he had ‘delivered the most secure border in American history’.
The final straw was when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that Trump had personally approved a $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign that was seen as a tool to put him in the spotlight and boost his national profile. Trump flatly denied this. “I didn’t know anything about it,” he told Reuters.
Noem was confronted by Republicans before the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on Tuesday and Wednesday over the deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, excessive spending and an alleged affair with aide Corey Lewandowski.
This is the brutal moment when Kristi Noem was introduced to the stage to praise Donald Trump’s accomplishments just 20 minutes after he announced he had been fired.
Trump (pictured at the White House on Thursday) had announced minutes earlier on Truth Social that he was nominating Senator Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem.
The final straw was when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that Trump had personally approved a $220 million, taxpayer-funded ad campaign featuring her.
Lewandowski attends Donald Trump’s election night vigil party at the Palm Beach County Convention Center on November 5, 2024
Trump wrote on Truth Social: ‘I am pleased to announce that the Honorable U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin of the Great State of Oklahoma will be the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026.
‘Current Secretary Kristi Noem, who has served us well and achieved so many great results (especially on the Border!), will step up to become Special Envoy for the Inter-American Shield, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere, which we will announce on Saturday in Doral, Florida. ‘I thank Kristi for her service on Homeland.’
The cinematic ad showed the former South Dakota governor galloping around Mount Rushmore on horseback alongside a crowd of bison wearing cowboy hats.
The massive contract was awarded to an LLC that subcontracted to a firm run by the husband of DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who later resigned.
Noem writhed under the Louisiana senator’s slow-burning fray, which systematically chipped away at her defensive line.
‘Did the President pre-approve you to spend $220 million to run TV ads across the country featuring you?’ Kennedy asked.
Noem responded: ‘Yes sir, we have gone through the legal process.’
Kennedy retorted: ‘Did the President know you were going to do this?’
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem rides a camel before touring the Qal’at al-Bahrain Fort near Manama on May 25
The final straw for Trump came when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that she had the President’s approval for a $220 million taxpayer-funded campaign designed to boost her national profile (pictured). “I didn’t know anything about it,” Trump said in an interview with Reuters.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem boards the USCG MSRT Small Craft in the South Bay, San Diego, California, March 16
Kristi Noem speaks as inmates stand and look out from a cell while touring the Center for Confinement of Terrorists (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26
Cinematic ad showed Noem galloping alongside a crowd of cowboy hat-wearing bison
The Secretary of Homeland Security wore a gold watch and a $700 Veronica Beard double-breasted tweed jacket
Trump announces nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin as next DHS Secretary
Noem testifies before the House Judiciary Committee
Noem claimed Trump did that, and Kennedy asked again, her voice rising in mock surprise: ‘Did he do that?’
The homeland chief replied: ‘Uh-huh, yes.’
Noem’s defenders were stunned by the response she received from members of Congress during her Senate appearance this week.
‘He knocked out his teeth,’ one insider said of Kennedy. ‘This came out of nowhere.’
Sources speaking to the Daily Mail revealed that DHS and ICE officials celebrated the news of Noem’s departure.
A DHS source told Daily Mail staff that the news was welcomed at the department’s headquarters: ‘Everyone is happy, smiling a lot.’
‘His morale had taken a huge blow. ‘There’s a feeling among many people here that the department can finally reset and refocus on operations rather than internal turmoil.’
There is also the expectation that Corey Lewandowski will follow him to the door. ‘He’ll go because he knows Mullin will throw him.’ It is unclear whether the adviser will leave DHS along with the secretary.
Another DHS insider said Trump had been preparing to fire him for days, but Tuesday’s performance gave him “coverage” to do so immediately.
Meanwhile, an ICE official at the department’s headquarters told the Daily Mail: ‘Crowds are celebrating. Lots of phone calls. Texts. People stop by to celebrate.’
Noem faced major backlash after her agents shot and killed two Americans – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – during immigration operations in Minnesota.
After Trump branded Pretti a ‘domestic terrorist’ with disastrous messages, he quickly replaced him with border czar Tom Homan.
Noem said she embraced the idea of deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller; This was a dangerous public statement considering his senior position in the administration.
The White House has grown weary of Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles’ weekly tales of scandal and infighting, long tired of his theatrics.
“It’s like he’s not fighting who he is,” a familiar source told the Daily Mail.
Trump chose Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma in part to avoid the Senate confirmation process, a source told the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail has published multiple stories about Kristi Noem’s tumultuous tenure as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
Noem has been labeled ‘ICE Barbie’ for numerous photo shoots that feature Noem in full makeup and posing with guns and bulletproof vests
A source familiar with the matter said Trump decided on Mullin in part because he came from a safe place in Republican-dominated Oklahoma and because he “looked good on TV.”
‘This is too high a risk. “The department has been closed,” the source said. ‘They went to the reddest state in the union to replace him.’
Noem’s firing comes as much of the department remains closed due to a cut in congressional funding. Mullin could be the person to get DHS back up and running, the source said.
