Updated ,first published
Washington: US President Donald Trump has sacked Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversaw controversial immigration raids in major American cities, and now becomes the first person dumped from his cabinet in his second term.
Trump announced on Truth Social that Noem would be replaced by Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin at the end of the month. Noem, “who has served us well”, would become special envoy for a new western hemisphere security initiative, he said.
It followed intense speculation in Washington that Trump may move against Noem after her testimony before Senate and House of Representatives committees this week.
Noem refused to apologise for labelling US citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti as “domestic terrorists” in the hours after they were killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, in two separate January incidents. Noem said she was relying on information provided by agents at the “chaotic scene”.
She was also grilled over a $US220 million ($315 million) advertising campaign encouraging illegal immigrants to self-deport, in which she featured heavily, as well as her relationship with her defacto chief-of-staff Corey Lewandowski.
Asked whether she ever had sexual relations with Lewandowski, Noem replied: “I am shocked we’re peddling tabloid garbage in this committee.”
Trump was reportedly dissatisfied with Noem’s responses.
Pressure had been building on her since the fatal January shootings in Minneapolis. Trump effectively sidelined her and Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino by installing his own adviser, Tom Homan, to take control of the operation in Minnesota and “de-escalate a little bit”.
Under Noem’s leadership, masked immigration agents surged into US cities such as, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, scouring neighbourhoods, car washes and shopping centre carparks for illegal immigrants.
Polls indicated the popularity of Trump’s immigration approach fell as agents detained US citizens and tear-gassed streets in an attempt to drive up deportations, which last year fell short of the administration’s goal of 1 million per year.
with Reuters
More to come
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Michael Koziol is the North America correspondent for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald. He is a former Sydney editor, Sun-Herald deputy editor and a federal political reporter in Canberra.Connect via X or email.
