'Concerned by optics': Trump 'personally nixed' his former campaign manager from DHS role
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wears an ICE vest during a briefing with law enforcement agents ahead of immigration raids in New York City, U.S., January 28, 2025 in this image obtained from social media. X/@Sec_Noem via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY
Corey Lewandowski, the “chaotic presence” who was President Donald Trump’s campaign manager during the 2016 race, hoped to earn a spot at the Department of Homeland Security. But Trump himself vetoed the idea, the Atlantic reported Friday.
Lewandowski hoped to become chief of staff to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, according to two sources. He has still been able to work closely with her as a “supervisor of sorts.”
“Trump remains personally close to Lewandowski, whom he has kept as a friend and ally throughout a range of scandals. But the president is also aware that many of his trusted aides and confidants deeply dislike the 51-year-old,” write the Atlantic’s Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer.
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Trump was apparently “concerned by the optics,” they write, of Lewandowski working as chief of staff for someone with whom he had an affair, although Lewandowski and Noem have denied these rumors.
Now, Lewandowski has been working as an adviser to Noem. “The situation has alarmed some in Trump’s circle, who view Lewandowski as a chaotic presence, even by MAGA standards. Lewandowski has a record of feuding with others who are close to the president and creating controversy,” Parker and Scherer write.
'Like Elon Musk and so many other patriots, Mr. Lewandowski volunteers his time as a special government employee (SGE) to help President Trump Make America Great Again,' a DHS spokesperson told Politico.
Lewandowski was charged with misdemeanor battery after accusations related to unwanted sexual advances. In 2022, he paid a $1,000 fine and agreed to eight hours of impulse control counseling and 50 hours of community service.
At the time, Trump’s spokesperson said he “will no longer be associated with Trump world,” while a spokesperson for Noem — who was then governor of South Dakota — said he “will not be advising the governor in regard to the campaign or official office.”
“He never actually left the team,” a source who worked at her office at the time told the Atlantic. “As well as continuing to advise her, he also continued to travel with her.”
