Kristi Noem May Have Accidentally Exposed A Nasty Habit (& Trump Will Be PO'd)

When Kristi Noem shared a video to Instagram of herself painting the southern border wall black, she may have hoped for social media to focus on the uber cinematic slow-mo shots and tee-hee choice of music (or, honestly, her ever-present ICE Barbie glam). However, it was a telltale round object in one of her back pockets that got a ton of people talking. Madam Secretary — are you into chewing tobacco? 

Is she chewing now too? pic.twitter.com/sVMuX8deWw

— 🇺🇸 John G 🇺🇸 (@JohnnyG0626) August 22, 2025

"Does she have a can of chew in her back pocket?" asked one X (formerly Twitter) user. Others quipped that it could also have been snuff. And then, there were some who joked that she may not even be using whatever it was for herself, but rather using it as a prop, à la the time she cosplayed SWAT team Barbie, going full glam for an immigration raid. "If she is going to play the part she thinks she needs to look the part, probably borrowed it off someone," one commenter mused.

One person who probably hopes the cosplaying theory is the case? Donald Trump. As some will know, Donald has never smoked — and the reason for that is surprisingly tragic. The president has long spoken about his late brother Fred Trump Jr., who suffered addiction and who Donald has often said told him very specifically not to take up the habit. As such, if the president were to learn that the Secretary of Homeland Security was a fan of chewing tobacco or nicotine pouches, we certainly wouldn't be surprised if that put a dampener on Donald's seeming obsession with her. On second thought, maybe Noem placed a tin of chewing tobacco in her back pocket for that very reason. Strategy, amirite?

It bears mentioning that not everyone believed Kristi Noem's back pocket contained a tin of Donald Trump repellent. On the contrary, social media was abuzz with a range of different things it could be (and let's just say, many of them poked fun at Noem in some way or other). 

For one, there was the crowd who joked that it may have something to do with summoning dogs — because, y'know, Noem infamously not only admitted to but voluntarily shared a story about shooting her wayward puppy, and also defended doing it, post-backlash. "It's a can of dog treats. Getting them closer makes them easier to shoot," wrote one particularly savage X user. "It's the rolled up leash of her dead dog!" taunted another. (W)Oof. Others decided instead to poke fun at Noem's aforementioned penchant for full glam even in the most inappropriate of settings. "That is her pink blush," was a subtle dig. "Makeup tin for her close up, to dab some blush on her cheeks," was a touch more biting. 

Of course, there were also those who took a more sympathetic view towards the Secretary of Homeland Security, and who mused that she may have been keeping mints in her back pocket. Maybe, maybe not. Depending on whether or not she's enjoying being Trump's fav, she could really pass it off either way. Like we said: Strategy.