U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., January 29, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
President Donald Trump held a Cabinet meeting on Thursday where he went around the room to chat with some of his secretaries about their respective departments.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported that while Trump usually shouts out Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, this time he not only didn't call on her for a briefing, she didn't get a nod either.
"He went around the room and called on a handful of Cabinet secretaries, more than a handful, probably, actually, but one that he notably did not call on was standing to my left. And that was the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who we know has come under intense scrutiny in the last several days," she said.
She recalled that Noem has been side-lined "ever since she came out on Saturday and described the killing of Alex Petti at the hands of federal agents, described him as a domestic terrorist and obviously described something that was not later borne out by the videos of what happened."
Trump has since changed the leadership on the ground in Minneapolis.
What is happening in Minneapolis also never once came up in the meeting. Despite immigration being Trump's flagship issue, there was no mention of it.
"And I just think it speaks to the moment where there have been a ton of headlines generated around Minneapolis," said Collins.
She also noted it was odd that Trump didn't take questions from the media waiting for the 90-minute meeting.
"I'm not sure I've ever been in a Cabinet meeting covering the president, whether in this term, and this was his 10th Cabinet meeting so far in his second term, or in his first term, where he did not take questions from reporters at the end," she said.
