President Trump, as RedState Editor Bob Hoge reported moments ago, has ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and tapped Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R) as her replacement.
Speculation is running rampant over what might have been the catalyst for the first Cabinet shakeup of the President's second term. One particular moment during her testimony during a Senate hearing on Tuesday might very well have sealed her fate.
Noem repeatedly insisted under oath that Trump had given prior approval for a controversial $220 million taxpayer-funded ad campaign promoting self-deportation. The campaign featured the soon-to-be former DHS Secretary prominently.
“The president approved ahead of time you spending $220 million running TV ads across the country in which you are featured prominently?” Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) asked her.
“Yes, sir, we went through the legal processes ..." she responded, before Kennedy continued: "Did the president know you were gonna do this?”
"Yes," she replied.
It is RARE to see an exchange like this between a cabinet secretary and a senator of their own party.
— Joe Khalil (@JoeKhalilTV) March 3, 2026
GOP @SenJohnKennedy went in on Sec. Noem for the $220 million media budget for DHS ads “featuring [Noem] prominently” and raising her own profile, as Kennedy put it pic.twitter.com/nMRHYueOuc
READ MORE: Breaking — Noem Out As Trump Names New Secretary of Homeland Security
Kristi Noem Responds to Being Fired As DHS Secretary, Thanks Trump for the New Gig
Kennedy was clearly not convinced.
“I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth. It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president, as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them,’ that he would have agreed to that,” he said.
In a follow-up with CBS News Reporter Alan He, Kennedy indicated he had spoken to the President about the exchange with Noem and that "his (Trump's) recollection and her recollection are different.”
KENNEDY on Noem tv ads: “After the hearing, the President the United States called me, and I'm not going to speak for him. You folks know him. You can ask him yourselves, but put it this way, his recollection and her recollection are different…”
— Alan He (@alanhe) March 5, 2026
Trump would later speak to Reuters about the matter, strongly suggesting the Secretary's claims were not accurate.
"I never knew anything about it," he said.
The National Review, which initially reported this morning on speculation that the president was seeking to replace Noem, asserted that Trump was "privately furious" over the former South Dakota governor's testimony.
That disappointment, according to a "source familiar with the president's thinking," stemmed largely from her repeated insistence that he signed off on the multi-million-dollar ad campaign.
The New York Post followed up by saying they spoke to two White House sources who indicated Trump "is furious that Noem testified that he approved of the ads" and that her comments "set in motion his later move to fire her."
Perhaps the president will reveal at some point exactly what led him to remove Noem from her high-profile Cabinet position and name her the Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, a position that won't exist until it's announced on Saturday. Was there one final straw, or did this build up over time, accelerated by the events in Minnesota?
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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