President Donald Trump may say his recently-fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem “had numerous and spectacular results,” but a pro-Trump newspaper begs to differ.
“While Mr. Trump praised Ms. Noem’s ‘spectacular results,’ there’s no mistaking this move as anything other than a fed-up President cutting loose an aide who made herself into a serious liability,” wrote The Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board. They praised Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) for asking Noem about spending $220 million on television advertisements that prominently featured her, asking whether Trump previously approved these commercials. Although Noem insisted Trump had approved, Kennedy later said he had spoken to Trump and “his recollection and her recollection are different.”
According to CNN political reporter Aaron Blake, Kennedy set a trap for the increasingly-unpopular Noem that the former South Dakota governor walked right into.
"John Kennedy was basically laying a bunch of traps around Noem and waiting for her to walk into one," Blake posted to X. "Judging by this report, it worked." Congressional reporter Benjamin S. Weiss argued in his own post that it “seems the questioning from Noem’s [Senate Judiciary Committee] hearing that most hurt her standing with the president came not from a Democrat but from a Republican.”
In addition to Kennedy’s questions about her expensive advertising campaign, Noem also faced tough queries about her alleged extramarital affair with aide Corey Lewandowski, which she denied, and border agents’ killings of protester Alex Pretti and civilian Renee Good. Noem defended the killings by describing them, inaccurately, as domestic terrorists.
“The empowering of border czar Tom Homan amid the Minneapolis mess was a good step for Mr. Trump, since Mr. Homan is a professional who talks about prioritizing public safety and conducting ‘targeted’ ICE enforcement against known illegal aliens in a humane fashion,” the Journal wrote. “If Mr. Mullin is confirmed by the Senate, he can help the President by following the Homan approach and explaining it consistently without the political melodrama.”
According to an exclusive NBC News report, “the president decided to fire Noem due to '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.” Despite this private frustration, Trump publicly lauded Noem’s tenure.
"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, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social. “I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland.'"
