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President Donald Trump has denied that he “fired” Kristi Noem but instead said he moved her out of the top job at the United States Department of Homeland Security in order to elevate Senator Markwayne Mullin to the Cabinet post.
Some shit you should know before you dig in: If you’re unaware, yesterday President Trump announced he was removing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem from her post at the United States Department of Homeland Security and said he plans to nominate Markwayne Mullin to replace her, while offering Noem a new position as special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas,” a new Western Hemisphere security initiative. The decision came just days after contentious congressional hearings in which Noem faced intense scrutiny over five major issues: her claim that Minnesotan Alex Pretti, a US citizen killed by federal agents, had committed “domestic terrorism”; a $220 million immigration advertising campaign featuring her; criticism over DHS purchasing luxury aircraft including Gulfstream jets with department funds; questions about an alleged affair with her political adviser, Corey Lewandowski; and bipartisan anger over alleged mismanagement, including claims the department obstructed inspector general investigations and delayed FEMA disaster funding.
What’s going on now: In an interview with NBC News, Trump pushed back on the idea that he “fired” Kristi Noem, saying the move was largely about bringing Markwayne Mullin into his Cabinet. Trump said Noem was “A fine person. She did a good job. I’m a big fan of the senator from Oklahoma. It wasn’t a hard choice.” He also rejected the idea that a single mistake caused her removal, saying there wasn’t a “last straw” and praising her work on border enforcement. Despite this, Trump did openly criticize one issue that surfaced during Noem’s congressional testimony: a $220 million DHS advertising campaign promoting the administration’s immigration crackdown that prominently featured Noem. Trump said he had never approved the spending, telling reporters, “I wasn’t thrilled with it. I spent less money than that to become president. I didn’t know about it.”
In a separate interview with NBC News, he added bluntly, “I never knew anything about it,” directly contradicting Noem’s testimony to lawmakers that the president had signed off on the campaign.
The ads themselves became a major controversy on Capitol Hill because of both their cost and the way the contracts were awarded. Lawmakers from both parties questioned why DHS spent $220 million on television and digital ads (many of which starred Noem) promoting the administration’s deportation agenda. Much of the money went to two firms with political ties: Safe America Media, which received about $143 million, and People Who Think, which received roughly $77 million. Safe America Media drew particular scrutiny because it had been incorporated only days before receiving the massive federal contract.
Investigations also found that one of the companies awarded a large portion of the contract had ties to longtime Republican operatives, while another subcontractor was linked to the husband of Noem’s former DHS spokesperson. Noem has denied any wrongdoing.
