Kristi Noem Axed By Trump & It Makes Husband Bryon's Sudden Support All The More Humiliating

Donald Trump's obsession with Kristi Noem seems to have come to an end, as he announced she was being replaced as the Secretary of Homeland Security. In the wake of Noem being scrutinized during questioning from a congressional panel, POTUS took to Truth Social to inform the public that Senator Markwayne Mullin would be replacing Noem at the end of the month. The president spun it as a positive for Noem as she would be moved to another sector of homeland security. "The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas," he wrote on March 5, in a tone that implied it was a lateral move and not the major demotion that it was.

What made the firing doubly embarrassing was that it came a day after Kristi's husband saw her questioned by Congress about her rumored lover, Corey Lewandowski. The Noems tried to show a united front, even though Bryon had been absent from the public eye amid chatter that his wife was unfaithful, as Kristi was grilled by members of Congress for her spending as the Secretary of DHS. "I want to take a personal privilege and thank my husband for being here too," she said during her opening remarks on March 4. The scene became extremely awkward for Kristi when she was asked about an incident involving Lewandowski attempting to retrieve her blanket from a pilot on a DHS private jet. 

It appears that moment was not even what upset Trump the most, as another misstep led to Kristi being axed.

It was a long week for Kristi Noem, as she was also questioned by the Senate on March 3, where Senator John Kennedy asked her if Donald Trump was aware of the exorbitant amount that was being spent on anti-illegal immigration TV commercials. "The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?" Kennedy asked. Noem had no issue with lumping Trump in with herself. "Yes, sir. We went through the legal processes, did it correctly," she responded. A couple of days later, Trump created distance from Noem by denying he played any part in the commercials. "I never knew anything about it," he told Reuters on March 5, for an article that was published hours before he wrote on Truth Social that Noem would be replaced.

Prior to that, the president had supported the former secretary of Homeland Security amid multiple controversies — Trump even supported Noem during her puppy shooting scandal in 2024 — but fractures started to show in their relationship. After the shooting of protestor Alex Pretti in Minnesota brought an avalanche of backlash in January 2026, Trump sat down with Noem for a two-hour meeting, per The New York Times. The president remained publicly supportive at the time. "Is Kristi Noem going to step down?" a reporter asked around the time of the meeting. "No. I think she's doing a very good job," Trump said.

Clearly, he didn't think she did a good job of responding to questions about the ICE TV ad spending.