Kristi Noem was mid-sentence praising Donald Trump’s border triumphs before a packed law enforcement conference in Nashville when the news flashed across the country Thursday: the President had just fired her, making her the first cabinet casualty of his second term. 

Noem was addressing officers at the Sergeant Benevolent Association Major Cities Conference, fielding questions from the floor and betraying no sign she had just been shown the door. 

She spoke in glowing terms about the Trump agenda as she fielded questions from an audience apparently unaware she had minutes earlier been shown the door. ‘In his State of the Union Address just last week, President Trump reminded us what it is every Americans duty to do and that is to serve the American people,’ Noem said. 

The ousted Homeland chief wore a poker face throughout, though she did flash a smile when one of the officers told her she was his ‘dream woman.’ 

Trump announced on Truth Social that he was nominating Senator Markwayne Mullin, while Noem would shift to the newly established position, the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.

After her speech in Nashville, Noem posted on X thanking Trump and claiming that she ‘delivered the most secure border in American history.’ 

The last straw came when Noem told Senator John Kennedy under oath that Trump had personally approved a $220 million taxpayer-funded advertising campaign that featured her prominently and was widely seen as a vehicle to boost her national profile. Trump flatly denied it. ‘I never knew anything about it,’ he told Reuters. 

Noem faced a drubbing before the Senate and House Judiciary Committee’s on Tuesday and Wednesday where she was confronted by Republicans over the deadly immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, lavish spending, and her alleged affair with her aide Corey Lewandowski.

Trump wrote on Truth Social: ‘I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026.

‘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, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida. I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.” 

The cinematic advert showed the former South Dakota governor on horseback at Mount Rushmore and galloping beside a stampede of bison in a cowboy hat.

The huge contract was awarded to an LLC, which subcontracted with a firm run by the husband of DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who has since resigned.

Noem squirmed under the Louisiana senator’s slow-burning drawl as he methodically dismantled her defense line by line.

‘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 replied: ‘Yes sir, we went through the legal processes.’

Kennedy shot back: ‘Did the President know you were gonna do this?’

Noem claimed that Trump did, and Kennedy, his voice rising in mock astonishment, asked again: ‘He did?’

The Homeland chief replied: ‘Uh huh, yes.’  

Noem defenders were stunned by the heat she took from members of Congress during her appearance in the Senate this week.

‘He just kicked the teeth out of her,’ one insider said of Kennedy. ‘That came out of nowhere.’

Officials within DHS and ICE are celebrating the news of Noem’s departure, sources have revealed to the Daily Mail.

One DHS source told the Daily Mail staff that in the department’s headquarters are cheering the news: ‘Everyone is happy, lots of smiles.’

‘Morale had taken a hit. There’s a feeling among a lot of folks here that the department can finally reset and refocus on operations instead of internal turmoil.’

There’s also an expectation that Corey Lewandowski will follow her out the door. ‘He will go because he knows Mullin will toss him.’ It is unclear if the advisor will depart DHS along with the secretary.

Another DHS insider said Trump had been preparing to fire her for days, but that her performance Tuesday ‘gave him cover’ to do so immediately.

Meanwhile, an ICE official at the department’s headquarters told Daily Mail, ‘Crowds are celebrating. Lots of phone calls. Texts. People stopping by to celebrate.’

Noem faced huge backlash after her agents shot and killed two Americans – Renee Good and Alex Pretti – during immigration operations in Minnesota.

Trump moved quickly to replace her with border czar Tom Homan after she branded Pretti a ‘domestic terrorist’ in disastrous messaging.

Noem said that she had taken deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller’s line, a dangerous public statement given his senior standing in the administration. 

The White House grew tired of weekly stories of scandal and infighting, as Trump’s chief of staff Susie Wiles had long had enough of her theatrics.

‘It’s like who doesn’t she fight with,’ a source familiar told the Daily Mail.

Trump chose Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma partially to avoid a confrontational Senate confirmation process, one source told the Daily Mail.

A source familiar with the matter said Trump settled on Mullin in part because he comes from a safe seat in heavily Republican Oklahoma and ‘looks good on television.’

‘This is super high-risk. The department is shut down,’ the source said. ‘They went to the reddest state in the union to replace her.’

Noem’s firing comes as the vast majority of the department remains shuttered due to a lapse in congressional funding. The source said Mullin could be the figure who gets DHS up and running again.