Awkward Photos Of Kristi Noem & Her Husband Bryon Posing Scream Divorce
Once upon a time, Kristi and Bryon Noem's Instagram pages were full of sweet pics of the two. Since Kristi's appointment as the secretary of Homeland Security, however, there has been a marked change — and while there are still pics of them together, in many of them, there's a clear distance between the previously very cozy spouses.
That Kristi and Bryon still have pictures together may come as a surprise to some. After all, her new gig is far from the only reason she and her hubby have been spending less time together. Despite denying them early on, the affair rumors about Kristi and Cory Lewandowski are sure to have taken a toll on Bryon, and the former first gentleman of South Dakota kept snaps of his wife off his Instagram throughout 2025 (likely in an attempt to keep social media trolls at bay). Kristi, on the other hand, has continued to share family pics here and there — but given that she's been accused of staging family photo ops in the past, we're not sure that's a sign she and Bryon haven't called divorce lawyers (or at least considered doing so). After all, as we said, the pictures she has posted of them together haven't exactly looked tension-free.
Take, for instance, their awkward body language for a family photo at the White House's Christmas party. Kristi and Bryon were standing right next to each other, but Kristi's arm seemed to be tensed up awkwardly, rather than relaxed against him. Of course, one could chalk that up to her wanting to make her arm look slimmer — but it also looked as though she was leaning away from him with the rest of her body, too. What's more, that's far from the only example of the couple looking a tad uncomfortable around each other in pictures.
Kristi's awkward pose spoke volumes
Same party, different pic: When Kristi and Bryon Noem posed without their kids at the White House Christmas party, their arms were around each other. Even so, Kristi's body language appeared tense to say the least, almost as though she was pulling away.
The picture was also the last in her Instagram carousel. Sure, that could have been because she wanted to avoid getting a bunch of "Where's Cory?" comments. However, that, coupled with their body language, didn't exactly allay suspicions. Oh — and the comments kept coming, anyway.
Kristi and Bryon have looked awkward in other White House pics
Several months before the 2025 White House Christmas party, the extended Noem family posed together at that year's Easter Egg Roll — and on that particular occasion, Kristi and Bryon Noem had even more distance between them.
Of course, Kristi was holding one of their granddaughters in the picture, but there was still a sizable gap between the spouses. In fact, he was the only one who wasn't standing shoulder-to-shoulder with anyone in the group pic — and he didn't extend an arm around his wife, either. DW, though, because everyone was smiling for the camera.
The Noems' date night looked a little like damage control
When Kristi and Bryon Noem attended the 2025 Governor's Ball together, the then–newly named secretary of Homeland Security tried to spin the night as romantic, captioning an Instagram post "Date night," but her critics zeroed in on the stiff body language and forced smiles that made the couple look anything but affectionate. They chalked the whole thing up to a publicity stunt amid public chatter about the Noems' supposedly "weird" marriage, and it's safe to say what may have been an attempt to dispel the affair rumors backfired miserably.
"No Lewandowski?" wrote one. "Is this the guy you cheated on[?]" another person questioned. Yikes.
There was distance between the Noems again over Thanksgiving 2025
Another holiday, another awkward pose. Thanksgiving 2025 saw Kristi Noem share an Instagram photo dump of everything she got up to over the long weekend — and while we will give her props for a slightly less awkward snap of just her and Bryon Noem (though again, it was one of the last in her carousel), the pic of her and hubby with their daughter Kennedy Frick, son-in-law, and grandchild once again showed some awkward distance between the grandparents.
The Noems used to look way more affectionate
The most glaring sign that all isn't well with the Noems? Their older pics. Truth be told, we might not even have looked twice at their awkward, more current snaps if not for how affectionate they'd previously been. Once upon a time, Bryon was sharing pictures of them kissing, cuddling, and looking generally boo'd up. Now, however, he barely shares pictures of them standing next to each other (and who can forget the time he appeared to snub Kristi's birthday?).
Like we said with the Christmas party pics, if the Noems aren't already talking about divorce, it's possible their newer, less affectionate pictures are a result of the affair rumors and wanting to avoid even more taunting in their comments sections. Nothing says "Commitment" quite like a very obvious pivot in affections — possibly because one party is alleged to be part of the affair widely dubbed "The worst-kept secret in D.C."