Conflicting Reports on ‘Last Straw’ That Triggered Noem’s Ouster

Multiple reports suggest that former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem may have sealed her fate during a pair of bruising congressional hearings—first over a $200 million immigration ad campaign, and then over pointed questions about her intimate relationship with senior aide Corey Lewandowski.

According to Fox News reporter Jacqui Heinrich, President Donald Trump was angered after Noem told senators that he had approved the costly Department of Homeland Security advertising push encouraging illegal immigrants to self-deport — a claim the White House later contradicted.

“The President said he didn’t know about that ad and did not authorize it,” a White House official told Heinrich. “That might have been the tipping point after weeks of the President facing questions about Noem’s ability to carry out her duties.”

The advertising campaign, estimated at roughly $200–$220 million, featured Noem prominently, including scenes filmed on horseback near Mount Rushmore. The ads were designed to send a message domestically and internationally that illegal immigration would not be tolerated under the Trump administration.

During Senate testimony, Sen. John Kennedy pressed Noem directly. Kennedy argued the ads were effective for her name recognition and suggested the situation placed Trump in an “awkward spot.”

Trump later told Reuters, “I never knew anything about it,” directly contradicting Noem’s testimony.

Further scrutiny followed reporting that $143 million of the contract went to Safe America Media, a company incorporated just one week before winning the award, while another $77 million went to a Louisiana-based firm, People Who Think.

Records previously reported by the Associated Press and ProPublica indicated links between the companies and long-time Republican operatives. The Strategy Group, run by the husband of outgoing DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, received $226,000 as a subcontractor.

Noem defended the contract, saying it was awarded through “a competitive process” and that it was “all done correctly, all done legally.”

 

While the ad controversy reportedly infuriated Trump, sources told The New York Post that a separate exchange during a House hearing became the “final straw.”

At a House Judiciary Committee appearance, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked Noem directly, “Have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski?”

Noem declined to answer directly, calling the question “tabloid garbage” and noting that Lewandowski was a special government employee who worked for the White House.

Sources contacted by the New York Post described her refusal to give a yes-or-no answer — with her husband, Bryon Noem, seated behind her — as politically catastrophic.

“The question about the affair at the hearing was actually the final straw. It was brutal,” one source said. Another added, “There was just no going back with the two hearings. It all became about her and him.”

Trump reportedly had long been aware of speculation about Noem and Lewandowski’s relationship, but viewed her handling of the question as damaging to her credibility at a moment when she was already under scrutiny.

Sen. Kennedy told reporters that Trump was “mad as a murder hornet” following her Senate testimony and had discussed replacing her with Sen. Markwayne Mullin as early as Tuesday night, though the official announcement did not come until Thursday.

An administration official said Noem’s removal reflected “the 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.”

Supporters of Noem argue her tenure saw sharp declines in illegal border crossings, a 56 percent drop in fentanyl trafficking at the southern border, and nearly 3 million voluntary departures or deportations. Daily encounters at the southern border have dropped more than 90 percent compared to peak levels during the prior administration.

Noem maintained a composed public posture after her firing, appearing at a law enforcement conference in Nashville and later issuing a statement thanking Trump for appointing her as special envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

“We have made historic accomplishments at the Department of Homeland Security to make America safe again,” she said.