The Firing of Kristi Noem

I spent 20 years reporting from more than a dozen countries, and it occurred to me one day,

“what kind of newsletter would I like to read? I don't live in the US. I want something”

especially for a global audience. The world is just that. Each weekday morning, we bring the biggest stories, dispatches from my colleagues on the ground, and a few surprises with video to the world newsletter. Read the latest and sign up at nytimes.com/theworld. Today, my colleague, Hammett Ali Aziz, on Hell No, who did everything possible to ingratiate herself with Trump, ended up losing his trust.

It's Friday, March 6th. How am I good evening? Good evening. I just want to be candid, this was not our plan for Friday's

“episode of The Daily, but it is a seismic development for this administration. We felt we had to cover it.”

Yeah, definitely. I mean, Christina was the face of President Trump's aggressive crackdown on immigrants across the United States. She was unapologetic, and President Trump backed her over and over again, after all the controversy she faced over the last six months. And then really abruptly, President Trump notified her just moments before she gives a speech to folks on loan enforcement, she's fired. Right. And the other reason why this felt so enormous is that the entire premise

of the second-term Trump cabinet was that it was kind of unfirable in theory. In Trump's first

term, he fired people left and right, because he had picked in his mind all the wrong people, but the second term was this huge, corrective. And he was only going to pick ideologically aligned cabinet members who were not going to push back or were going to do exactly what he wanted. And he wouldn't fire people, even if they got into pretty serious trouble, that was really the case until known. It becomes the very first cabinet secretary to be fired in the

second-term. Yeah. I mean, it became pretty clear that Trump was trying to give off this appearance of stability and the fact that they had everything under control. And Christina Om really was among the most loyal of his cabinet secretaries. I mean, she really put President Trump

at the center of whatever she did. She was always talking about President Trump and fulfilling

President Trump's promises. And ultimately, it felt like that almost made her someone invincible to a firing, until now. So let's tell the story of how she became no longer invincible, despite doing what seemed month after month, like exactly what it was Trump wanted her to do and celebrating Trump the whole way. It was surprising that President Trump selected her,

“the DHS secretary role really is perhaps the biggest role for his biggest promise, right?”

The promise of mass deportations. You need somebody in place to carry through a really ambitious and difficult operation. And the selection of Christina Om was a surprise because on the national level, she was primarily known for writing a memoir in which she admitted to shooting her own dog that she felt like was misbehaving. Right. And of course she was the governor of South Dakota. She'd been at Congresswoman as well, but President Trump, he decides that she is the right person

to run this massive agency. And in many ways, takes her from political relevance to the

biggest story of 2025. And first of all, I want to thank El Salvador and their president for

their partnership with the United States of America. And right away, she embraces this idea of being out there. Here's Tika today and visiting the facility. Going to El Salvador, where she's filming a spot in front of shirtless prisoners. First of all, do not come to our country

you could end up here if we catch you. But no, that this facility is one of the tools that

“are toolkit that we will use if you commit crimes against the American people. And we should say,”

she's standing in front of a prison that we've reported on where people including those who were in the United States claim to have been tortured and sexually abused. Yeah, exactly. And this comes right at that time last spring. As the Trump administration is really unleashing DHS on immigrant communities across this country, there's Christina. You're going to have to say this morning. We are going to get the dirt bags off these streets.

She's standing alongside these ice officers and she's got the tactical ice vest on.

She's at times holding weaponry. Look, you're going to go. You're going to go home and you're going to get prosecuted. You know, she is not a law enforcement officer going inside up to the homes

“where people are being arrested as if she's part of the operation. Do you know why we're here today?”

Right, she wants it to be known that she is at the tip of the spear of these enforcement action. She's on the front line. She is becoming. It seems like quite proudly synonymous with that. Yeah, I felt like she wanted to be at the center of this story. She wanted to be on Fox News, on these conservative news outlets day after day spreading this message that on the one that's going to carry through President Trump's biggest promise. But really her effort to put herself at

the center of the Trump administration's deportation campaign, put her down a path that ultimately haunted her and really the thing that you can point to is that she stars in these ads. I'm Christina. From the Cowboys who tame the West to the Titans who build our cities,

which she's writing on horseback, she's wearing a cowboy hat. America has always rewarded vision

and grit. Our greatness calls people to us for a chance to prosper. She's almost giving a speech about the greatness of America. Anyone who searches for freedom can always find a home here. But that freedom's a precious thing and we defend it vigorously. And then warning individuals who are in the country illegally. You cross the border illegally. We'll find you. That DHS will come and find them. But if you come here the right way, your American dream can be as big

as these endless guys. From President Trump and me, welcome home. And it's not just that, if you are here illegally, you're next. Or other ads as well. President Trump has a clear message for those that are in our country illegally. Leave now. Leave now. Under President Trump. Where she's encouraging immigrants to self-deport. The choice is yours. America welcomes those who respect our loss because a strong nation is a safe nation.

And these ads, which are playing on TV, they're everywhere. Pro-publica late last year reports

“that they cost the American taxpayer $200 million. I think that really started to concern”

some lawmakers and some folks that perhaps this whole effort of her being DHS secretary was really just to further her own political ambitions. And of course, as that's happening, the enforcement actions of the agents she's overseeing at the Department of Homeland Security become themselves deeply polarizing. How does that start to factor into what will come to Hunter? Yeah, you know, you see over the last half year DHS agents chasing people

in home depoparking lots in car washes, allegations of racial profiling, US citizens swept up, and even all throughout this bad imagery that even some of the President Trump supporters, including Joe Rogan, call out repeatedly. Trump stands by her. Right. And then you get to Minneapolis. And Minneapolis really is where things start to fall apart for her. There's the shooting of Alex Freddie in which agents tackle him to the ground and then shoot him. Good evening,

everyone, thank you for being here. There are two different things that are. Christi known

today that unfolded on the streets. She goes further than even the agency had in their own statement, which had been raised some questions. This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism. That's the facts. She starts saying that he's a domestic terrorist. He attacked the officers at the scene. Says things that turn out not to be true. Exactly. And in many ways,

“people question her credibility. Right. At this really key juncture where Minneapolis is teetering,”

where two American citizens at this point have been shot dead, protests are raging. There are

hundreds of DHS agents on the streets of Minneapolis. It's a critical moment and

no one is just not able to handle it without saying something that is pretty clearly inaccurate at that time. And President Trump doesn't fire. It doesn't get rid of her. But it is an acknowledgement that she did not handle it well when he brings in Tom Homan. Right. His borders are to take over Minneapolis and tell them to calm the situation down. That is something that never happens where a DHS secretary, the person in charge of these immigration operations is put to the side for a White

“House official untold. You don't need to take care of this anymore. Right. She's getting layered,”

which when you're a cabinet secretary, there really shouldn't be any layers between you. And the president. And then things get worse for Secretary Nome, courtesy, as I recall it, of our colleagues at the Wall Street Journal. Yeah, it really just as Tom Homan is starting to quiet the situation down in Minneapolis. This story lands from the journal, which gets into some of the sorted details of Christy Nome and her relationship to her senior advisor, Cori Luendowski,

a former Trump campaign official, a controversial figure in his own right. And Luendowski is a special government employee. And he's this kind of shadowy figure who is everywhere with Christy Nome. He is the person who is yelling at ice officials for not doing an iPhone arrest and deportations.

He is really in many ways. This incredibly powerful figure across DHS in particular at ice.

And ultimately, again, he is not a DHS employee. He is a special government employee, just like Elon Musk was when he started DHS last year. So he really, in theory, should not have the authority that this journal reporting suggests that he has inside the Department of Homeland Security. Yeah, exactly. And he's essentially running this agency alongside Nome, having unlimited power to do whatever they wanted to do, firing pilots, issuing polygraphs, wow, the idea of

polygrapping people left and right really concerned. A lot of people who are working pretty hard to carry through on this really difficult task of deportations and arrests. So this really got the

“heart at the kind of drama and the situation at the top of the agency. And I think crucially also”

really kind of heavily insinuated that Lewandowski and Nome both of whom are married were having an affair, which obviously has some major complications given the fact that they were essentially running the agency together. And yet despite this journal reporting, Trump does not act.

He does it, but Nome ultimately has to go to Capitol Hill for pair of hearings

in which congressional officials bring up all of these allegations, all of these exploits, and her response, her reaction, and how she handled that situation, it was a disaster and really seal their fate. We'll be right back. This is H. E. Solzberger. I'm the publisher of the New York Times. I oversee our news operations and our business, but I'm also a former reporter who has watched with a lot of

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“Obviously, there's a lot of interest in this hearing. I think the secretary for coming.”

So, how am I tell us about this disastrous testimony that Christy Known delivers before Congress that really does become her undoing? Yeah, I'd feel it's like the culmination of everything that's happened over this past year where all of her potential embarrassments come to

capital Hill. Secretary Known, we're glad to meet you even though it's been 13 months since you took

office in more than five weeks since two American citizens were shot dead in Minneapolis. And Democrats are incredibly aggressive. Can you explain why you decided to brand that these victims who are not protesting the activities of your agency and were killed as a result of it? How did you think that calling them domestic terrorists was somehow going to calm the situation, bringing up all of her previous comments in Minneapolis. We continue to

deliver information. Is it so hard to say you were wrong? And even beyond that, they get

quite personal. There are some pretty notable exchanges with Congresswoman Camembert Dove.

So, Secretary Known, at any time during your tenure as director of Department of Homeland Security, have you had sexual relations with Corey Lewandowski? Who really directly asks her about her relationship with Lewandowski? Mr. Chairman, I am shocked that we're going down and pedaling tabloid garbage in this committee today. And she doesn't really answer the question. So, what I would say you should be able to answer what we do at the Department of Homeland Security.

Every single day, every single day is to protect. If someone is out to make decisions, you or any

“federal official, it's legal with their subordinate. That's how easy it is. You should be wanting to”

answer that question as garbage. But the real surprise with these hearings was that Republicans, like Tom Tillis, like Senator Kennedy from Louisiana, they're starting to point some really intense questioning of Christy Known. I don't know that we'll have time for you to respond, because I'm giving you a performance evaluation here. I'm not looking for a response. He is incredibly frustrated at angry. What we've seen is innocent people getting detained

that turn out our American citizens. He feels unencumbered. We just want numbers. We want 1,000 a day, 6,000 a day, 9,000 a day because numbers matter, right? No, they don't matter. Quality matters. Not quantity. Quality. He's almost getting off this really intense disappointment of her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security. What we've seen is a disaster. Under your leadership, Ms. Nome, a disaster. Right, even discussed. Yeah, he is just pissed off.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And then thank you, Madam Secretary for being here. Here comes Kennedy. Somebody who is a start supporter of the Trump administration properly vetting people at the Southern border is not racist. Is it? No. Somebody who you would expect is your questions to come from. Could you answer for the record? No, it is not racist. But right as he starts going,

“I believe you have a policy, Madam Secretary, that you have to approve all contracts at your”

department. He is really getting into detailed questions about what was happening at her department. How do you square that concern for waste, which I share?

prominently. He is questioning her about this ad campaign and all the money that's spent there. We went through the legal processes. Did it correct the pressure? No, it's going to be. Yes, he did. Yes, okay. And pushing her on, why they're not the president was approving this type of massive expenditure. To me, it puts the president in a terrible awkward spot, and I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. It's just hard for me to blame. I'm impressed that he would have

agreed to that. And again, this is a moment where no, somewhat like Minneapolis starts to

“dig her own grave by saying, "Yes, the president did approve this." And one thing Senator, I think”

would be helpful to know is how effective that communication says, Ben. That's not overwhelmed.

Active in your name or recognition. And ultimately his line of questioning is really

quite effective because President Trump gets wind of her comment and is asked on the record by Reuters whether or not he did, in fact, approve this spending like President home said he did. And he says no, I didn't approve that. Kennedy himself says that when he spoke with President Trump, he was, I believe he said Matt is a hornet. Right. I mean, basically, the president is calling his DHS secretary a liar. Yeah. And a few hours later, she's fired from her job as secretary

and Trump announces that he's given her this previously non-existent job as the special envoy for the shield of America's job that nobody had ever heard of before. And something that is really mocked as it gets announced. You know, that sequence of events, certainly suggest to me that while Trump's dismay with gnome has perhaps been building for some time for a variety of reasons, in the end, what really costs her or job was invoking Trump's name as she sought to defend

something that people in both parties, regardless kind of wasteful and self-promotional,

these $200 million ads. And I wonder if that's the way you see it that you kind of violated

the president's golden rule, which is, don't throw me out of the bus. Yeah, it's really this moment where Kennedy is asking this question of, know, what Trump knew, where gnome connects Trump to this idea of wasteful spending and he doesn't want to be connected to this. And he doesn't want to be used as the justification and the excuse for this massive amount of money spent on her ad campaign. This aggressive immigration approach is ultimately not what Christy known fired. It's really

what happened with some of these stories connecting her to the spending and her performance on the

“hell. I mean, the president wants people to be good on TV. And in this moment, it was, I think,”

really seen as an embarrassment and a joke. I don't think President Trump wants to deal with that longer. Well, if this is not a larger change of course for the Department of Homeland Security and it's approached the immigration, I think we should talk about the person Trump has picked to replace and run the department. Senator Mark Wayne Mullin of Oklahoma, what should we know about

him and how much is he basically just going to keep the existing approach that gnome did with perhaps

more restraint in his testimony before Congress? Mullin is somebody like many Republican politicians. He is somebody who supports President Trump's deportation agenda. He has been very vocal about

“backing the ideas of a more aggressive DHS. But I think, you know, somewhat more to the point,”

he's this big guy, an XMMA fighter and for many Americans, their first experience with him was when

So this is a time, this is a place. You want to run your mouth. We can be took consenting adults. We can

finish it here. Okay, that's fine. Perfect. You want to do it now? I'd love to do it right now.

“Well, stand your butt up there. Do you stand your butt up? Oh, hold on. Oh, stop it. Is that your solution?”

Oh, no, no, sit down. During a hearing before Congress. Yeah, during a hearing before Congress. No, I have the butt. I'm sorry. This is Paul. Can I respond? No, you can't. This is a hearing. God knows the American people have enough of contempt, but Congress, let's talk. I don't like words and duties. You up. And I don't like you. He's somebody who doesn't shy away from a fight. He's willing to go back

and forth with reporters, with other politicians. And I think Trump likes that, and he perhaps

wants that from someone who's leading this massive, a law enforcement agency. Right. So overall, Mullen is a stick to your guns kind of appointment over a THS. And rather than this being a referendum on the ways in which immigration enforcement undernome has worked, this really at the end of the day

“is only a referendum on the question you know, herself. Yeah, I think so. And I think perhaps”

there is some expectation that without some of this drama, without some of these scandals, that maybe Mullen can be more effective in following through with this deportation agenda,

really in the face of all this pulling that shows that Americans are starting to get

disgusted by what they're seeing on the streets. Trump hasn't backed away from any of that. Right. So it's going to be on Mullen to pick this up and see this aggressive and at times on popular campaign through for its next chapter. Amen. Thank you very much, appreciate it. Thank you for having me. On Thursday afternoon, Democrats and Congress said that no one's firing would not change their plans to keep the

homeland security department defunded until they see major reforms across the agency. Meanwhile, hey, Kristy, no, don't let the door hit you on the way out. Several of the party's leaders openly celebrated Nome's ouster, Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, allowed critic of Nome's immigration tactics in his state, warned Nome that leaving the job would not absolve her from blame. Here's your legacy, corruption and chaos, parents and children

tear gased, moms and nurses, U.S. citizens getting shot in the face. Now that you're gone, don't think you get to just walk away. I guarantee you you will still be held accountable. We'll do right back.

“Here's what else you need to know today. On Thursday afternoon,”

the U.S. House of Representatives blocked a bipartisan measure that sought to rein in President Trump's ability to continue the war in Iran without congressional approval. Because the U.S. Senate had blocked a similar measure a day earlier. Trump now faces no constraints on his ability to wage the war. In Europe, Britain and Italy accelerated their deployment of military equipment and personnel to protect their citizens and infrastructure in the Middle

East as the war continued to spill out beyond the region. For many European governments, the deployments are occurring despite their skepticism of the war. While the region has been plunged into chaos, my focus is providing calm, level-headed leadership in the national interest. During a news conference on Thursday, British Prime Minister Keerstarma reaffirmed his decision not to participate in the attack against Iran, even if it upsets the United States.

And it means having the strength to stand firm by our values and our principles, no matter the pressure to do otherwise. Meanwhile, the fighting raged on.

while Iran struck pro-American Kurdish forces in Iraq, who are seen as allies in America's plan

“to overthrow the Iranian regime. Finally, Iran's foreign minister accused the U.S. of committing”

a quote atrocity at war, by sinking an Iranian warship of the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday,

and killing many of the sailors on board. The ship was thousands of miles away from the conflict, when it was struck.

“Today's episode was produced by a living in that, Carlos Prieto and Caitlyn O'Keef.”

It was edited by Rachel Questor and Maria Barn, contains music by Mary and Lzano,

Alicia but YouTube, Roni Misto and Ian Wong. Our theme music is by Wanderley.

“This episode was engineered by Alyssa Moxley.”

That's it for the Daily. I'm Michael Warr, see you on Sunday. (gentle music)