US President Donald Trump on Thursday fired Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for carrying out his sweeping immigration crackdown.
Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said Markwayne Mullen, 48, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, would take over the powerful department on March 31.
According to multiple media reports, Trump was upset with Noem’s handling of the recent large-scale operation against undocumented migrants in Minnesota, during which federal immigration agents shot dead two Americans.
Trump was also reportedly angered by Noem’s testimony at a Senate hearing this week during which she said the president had personally approved a $220 million DHS advertising campaign in which she featured prominently.
Trump said Noem, 54, would become his special envoy for a new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere he called “The Shield of the Americas” that will be announced on Saturday.
“(Noem) has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!),” Trump said.
He described Mullin as a “MAGA Warrior” and said he will be a “spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security.”
“Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN,” Trump said.
Mullin’s nomination will be subject to confirmation by the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority.
Trump campaigned for the White House on a pledge to remove millions of undocumented migrants from the United States and DHS is the chief enforcer of his deportation policy.
Speaking to reporters, Mullin said his focus will be “to keep the homeland secure.”
“I think there’s opportunities to build off successes,” he said. “And there’s also opportunities to build off things that maybe didn’t go quite as planned.”
Noem, in a post on X, thanked Trump for her new special envoy position and cited what she called “historic accomplishments” at DHS.
“We delivered the MOST secure border in American history,” she said, and “three million illegal aliens have left the US.”
