Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday fired his homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, after she criticized his department’s leadership, including the administration’s handling of immigration and crisis management.
Trump, who has said he will nominate Oklahoma Republican Rep. Markwayne Mullin to replace him, made the announcement on social media Thursday, two days after Noem faced a backlash on Capitol Hill from fellow Republicans and Democrats.
Trump said he would make Noem a “Special Envoy for the Shield of the United States,” a new security program he said would focus on the Western Hemisphere.
Noem took the stage to address a Department of Homeland Security event after Trump’s announcement but did not immediately address his firing. Instead, he read from prepared remarks, including reinforcing Trump’s message from last month’s state of the nation address.
Later, in a social media post, he thanked Trump for his new appointment and highlighted his achievements as secretary. “We have done historic things at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again,” he wrote.
Noem is the first cabinet secretary to be removed during Trump’s second term. His departure caps a tumultuous period for immigration enforcement policies that have been met with protests and lawsuits.
He faced criticism in January when he quickly called two US citizens shot and killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis as “domestic terrorism.” The videos that emerged after the deaths underscored Noem’s and other Trump officials’ assertions that the victims — Renee Good and Alex Pretti — were violent abusers.
During testimony Tuesday, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem refused to retract or apologize for her comments in January calling two US citizens shot and killed by immigration police in Minneapolis domestic terrorists. Accounts from local officials and bystander video contradict his comments. Noem’s hearing was interrupted at times by shouting protesters.
Criticism bubbles from both sides
Public backlash over the deaths has led the Trump administration to move to a more targeted approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota after months of sweeping US cities that led to violent clashes with residents opposed to fracking.
Noem faced heavy criticism from Democrats and some Republicans at congressional hearings this week on those and other issues.
The former governor of South Dakota was also criticized for the way his department spent billions of dollars allocated by Congress.
Another focus was a $220 million ad campaign featuring Noem that encouraged people in the country illegally to leave voluntarily.
Noem told lawmakers that Trump knew about the campaign in advance, but Trump denied that in an interview Thursday with Reuters, saying he did not sign off on the campaign ad.
Aside from immigration, Noem has also faced criticism — including from Republicans — about the pace of emergency funding approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Trump administration’s response to disasters.
Mullin will need to be confirmed by the Senate, but under federal law governing executive branch vacancies, he will be allowed to serve as acting homeland security secretary pending his official nomination.
Liam Ramos, 5, and his father returned to Minneapolis more than a week after being detained by US immigration and law enforcement and fueled protests. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump is now saying that ICE will only be sent to Democratic-controlled cities if they ask.
The personnel changes raise questions about whether the Trump administration would want to step up its push for mass deportations or return to a more targeted approach.
Under Noem’s leadership, undercover immigration agents entered Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, DC, scouring neighborhoods and Home Depot parking lots for potential immigration criminals.
The popularity of Trump’s immigration policy has plummeted as agents detain US citizens and tear up the streets in an effort to deport people, who last year fell short of the administration’s goal of one million a year.
Mullin, who spent a decade in the US House of Representatives before becoming a senator in 2023, supports Trump’s immigration agenda.
