On March 5, chief executive of the U.S., President Donald Trump, fired Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem in the midst of her appearance at an event in Nashville. Tenn. as he expressed disdain and criticism of her leadership.
“I am pleased to announce that the highly respected United States Senator from the great state of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026,” President Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“The current secretary, Kristi Noem, has served us well and has had numerous and spectacular results,” he said. He also shared that her new role will be “Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas” and thanked her.
The move comes merely a day after U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and other lawmakers in Congress criticized Kristi Noem’s leadership abilities, as Noem has been instrumental in mass deportation efforts and questioned her about a suspected intimate affair and utilizing her position of power to violate people’s human rights through the uptick of immigration enforcement efforts.
In a statement from the Trump administration provided to NBC News, Trump’s reasoning for dissolving Noem from her DHS secretary position is because of “a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures, including the fallout in Minnesota, the ad campaign, the allegations of infidelity, the mismanagement of her staff, and her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies, including CBP and ICE.”
The spokesperson of the administration also said, “Kristi’s drama sadly overshadowed and distracted from the administration’s extremely popular immigration agenda, which will continue full force.”
In response to the news, Noem publicly thanked Trump for her limited time as DHS secretary through a social media post on X and immediately explained her new role.
“In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security.” She then shared a list of “historic accomplishments” she made in her former role.
American political podcast commentary host Jennifer Welch, of the “I’ve Had It” podcast, expressed her thoughts about Noem on March 6. “Kristi Noem is a complete psychopath. These people are liars, con artists, and thieves, and they steal from the very people that vote for them.” Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz said, “Kristi Noem has done a stunning amount of damage, and it’s good she’s gone. But this doesn’t change the fact that we need a complete overhaul of DHS, impartial investigations into the killings of two American citizens, and information on children that were taken from Minnesota.”
Noem’s firing also comes two months after the administration sent thousands of immigration agents to the Twin Cities region of Minneapolis for “Operation Metro Surge,” an immigration crackdown. It resulted in a few deaths, but two victims received national media attention: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.