Kristi Noem is getting her personal statue — following months of scandals and ouster | EUROtoday

South Dakota’s capital metropolis will quickly be dwelling to a life-size bronze statue of former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

Noem’s statue will be part of the Trail of Governors, an artwork set up in downtown Pierre that includes statues of greater than 30 former state leaders. Noem served as South Dakota’s first feminine governor from 2019 till 2025, when President Donald Trump tapped her to guide the Department of Homeland Security. She was then fired from the president’s cupboard final month.

The statue, created by native sculptor John Lopez, might be unveiled on the State Capitol grounds on June 12, the Trail of Governors Foundation introduced on March 9. This comes after the inspiration revealed in August 2025 that it was accepting donations to fund her statue.

“Noem’s statue will join 31 governors’ statues on the trail that winds its way throughout the capital city’s downtown to and through the state capital grounds. Each statue tells the story of that governor during their lifetime or service to the state,” the inspiration stated.

All statues alongside the Trail of Governors are funded solely by donations, based on the inspiration. Each statue contains a bronze plaque acknowledging the main donors, together with a QR code that results in the governor’s biography.

The basis’s announcement got here simply days after Trump fired Noem from his cupboard. The president stated Noem had “served us well,” and introduced she’d be taking up a brand new position because the “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas.” She was then changed by Markwayne Mullin.

Noem was fired after a collection of tense congressional hearings, throughout which lawmakers grilled her on plenty of points, together with the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis and a multimillion-dollar promoting marketing campaign that featured her on horseback.

Noem was additionally pressed about an alleged affair along with her prime adviser, Corey Lewandowski, who reportedly left DHS along with her final month. Both Noem and Lewandowski have repeatedly denied partaking in an affair.

Meanwhile, the previous DHS secretary seems to be retaining a low profile after The Daily Mail reported her husband, Bryon Noem, engaged in a “bimbofication” fetish and despatched tens of hundreds of {dollars} to girls on-line. At the time, it was stated Noem was “blindsided” by the report.

The Mail additionally reported Bryon Noem insulted his spouse in telephone calls and on-line messages with a dominatrix and expressed a want to turn out to be a lady. He beforehand instructed The Independent the report’s claims are “not all true.”

The couple has been married for greater than 30 years and shares three youngsters collectively.