Kristi Noem is obsessed with being the face of Homeland Security, and it’s starting to annoy officials across White House agencies.
The Homeland Security secretary is known for her live tweeting of deportation raids and publicity stunts. She’s filmed videos while accompanying ICE on deportation raids in Arizona and on a helicopter ride with the Coast Guard. She often sports an ICE baseball cap, cowboy boots, a bullet-proof vest and always with a full blowout, fake eyelashes, and a $50,000 Rolex watch on her wrist—a desperate attempt to glamorize the White House’s mass deportation plan.
On her first day in office, Noem tweeted about a New York ICE raid (with a photo of herself of course) before the raid was even over, which hindered the element of surprise and pissed off ICE officials, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
As the face of national security, Noem seemingly feels the need to be physically part of her department’s (often illegal) deportation efforts, or at least be the spokesperson for them. Following the unlawful deportation of more than 200 Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador, many of whom had no criminal record, Noem herself flew to the megaprison where they were being held to film a propaganda video.
“I also want everybody to know, if you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you can face,” Noem said from the prison in a video posted on X. “Know that this facility is one of the tools in our tool kit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people.”
Her frequent travel means she is pretty much never at her office in Washington, D.C., “which has irritated many at DHS,” sources told the Journal. Her internal credibility is further weakened by the appointment of other officials like Tom Homan and Stephen Miller, who control much of the deportation logistics. Noem reportedly can’t handle losing the spotlight in the office (where you’ll find framed photos of her on ICE ride-alongs).
“Noem has grown so distrustful of agency staff that she has started threatening and even administering polygraph tests to people suspected of leaking, including Trump appointees, according to officials familiar with the matter,” the Journal wrote.
Though DHS has deported more than 23,000 people since January under Noem’s leadership, the president is frustrated she’s nowhere near his goal of deporting one million people per year. Add him to the list of people pissed at Kristi Noem.
