Kristi Noem, Minister of Homeland Security, fired by Donald Trump | EUROtoday

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US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in Washington, March 3, 2026.

It was by a message on his Truth Social community on Thursday March 5 that Donald Trump introduced the dismissal of Kristi Noem, the Minister of Internal Security, accountable amongst different issues for the Trump administration’s immigrant expulsion coverage. She will change into “special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas”, a brand new safety initiative within the Western Hemisphere”which the president will announce on Saturday in Florida.

“I am pleased to announce that highly respected Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin will become Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) effective March 31, 2026.”wrote the American president.

Kristi Noem is the primary cupboard member to depart workplace because the begin of Donald Trump’s second time period. The president would have made his choice after parliamentary hearings by Kristi Noem, throughout which she was put in problem over the award of a serious public contract.

Two days earlier than her ouster, she was sharply questioned on the Capitol by Republican and Democratic elected officers throughout parliamentary hearings on the administration of immigration operations and the bills of her division. She was additionally challenged over the administration of federal catastrophe help by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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A fan of surprising scenes

Posing unashamedly in entrance of detainees crowded into an notorious Salvadoran megaprison, Kristi Noem embodied to the purpose of caricature the inflexibility of the Trump administration within the face of unlawful immigration. But the muscular strategies of the Minister of Homeland Security and her excessive style for publicity precipitated the shame of the previous governor of South Dakota, aged 54.

She sparked sturdy criticism in January by calling “terrorists”even earlier than the conclusion of any investigation, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the 2 Americans shot useless by brokers of ICE, the immigration police, in Minneapolis. Videos of the 2 separate incidents contradicted DHS’s accounts that Renee Good and Alex Pretti engaged in violent habits.

Ready for something even when it’s “ugly” and “difficult”.

In November, summoned by a federal choose to clarify her choice to disregard his order to droop expulsions to El Salvador underneath a 1798 emergency legislation on “foreign enemies”the Trump administration acknowledged that this choice was made by Kristi Noem herself. The minister even visited this megaprison, Cecot, in March 2025, shortly after these expulsions, posing for the cameras throughout her go to.

Read additionally | Article reserved for our subscribers In the United States, Kristi Noem, the face of raids in opposition to immigrants

This mom of three who grew up on a ranch is taken into account a pillar of the “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) household, which brings collectively probably the most fervent Trumpists inside the Republican Party. She defends ultraconservative positions on all divisive topics, from abortion to immigration, together with firearms, with which she willingly places herself on stage.

Once thought of as a doable working mate for Donald Trump within the 2024 presidential election, Kristi Noem noticed her ambitions soften away due to the controversy raised by a revelation contained in her autobiography about to be revealed. She mentioned she was pressured to shoot her younger canine due to her character. “indomitable” and undisciplined, inflicting an uproar in an American society very connected to pets.

Read additionally | Article reserved for our subscribers By killing her canine, Kristi Noem, Trump’s doable working mate, “shot herself in the foot”

Kristi Noem defined that she needed to point out that she was prepared, in politics as in her private life, to do what was vital, even when it was ” ugly “ And ” difficult “.

In May, the minister was ridiculed after a Senate listening to the place she confused the precept of“habeas corpus”guaranteeing elementary rights within the United States, and the ability that, based on her, the president must expel immigrants as he needs.

Le Monde with AP, AFP and Reuters

https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2026/03/05/kristi-noem-la-ministre-de-la-securite-interieure-limogee-par-donald-trump_6669679_3210.html