Noem's bungling proves too much even for Trump
Accountability is still possible.
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On Thursday, President Trump flashed some weakness by ousting DHS Secretary Kristi Noem — the first high-profile dismissal of one of his nominees during his second term.1
Noem, who of course was already under fire for her disastrous work overseeing ICE and CBP in Minnesota, was fired on the heels of her self-immolating appearances before Congress earlier this week. Her Senate testimony made clear she had increasingly lost the support of Republicans, including Thom Tillis (who is retiring) and John Kennedy (who notably is not).
Then, on Wednesday, Noem appeared before the House and was grilled about her relationship with “special adviser” Corey Lewandowski. Perhaps even more troubling for her, she was also pressed on false statements she made during her Senate testimony about her use of DHS funds for corrupt self-dealing. (Watch Joe Neguse’s brilliant questioning on this topic below.)
Democrats, including Rep. Becca Balint, reminded her that accountability is coming.
And Sen. Richard Blumenthal sent her a letter pointing out that it appeared her testimony about Lewandowski’s role in approving DHS contracts was false.
Noem was repeatedly publicly humiliated — see the clip below for an especially brutal example — and Trump reportedly was troubled in particular by her testimony that he was responsible for approving a $220 million DHS ad campaign starring her.
Still, more than a year into Trump 2.0, it has increasingly felt like the president’s refusal to fire anybody — Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, currently beset by multiple scandals, has been in hiding for months — is meant to symbolize the inevitability of Trump’s cabinet and his refusal to consider accountability for anybody around him. So it was heartening to get the alert that Noem was out, because it’s a reminder that Trump not only is not immune to normal political dynamics (at least at home) but is in fact weakening in conjunction with his sinking popularity.
Then I actually read Trump’s Truth Social post and had to laugh. Because in it Trump announced that Markwayne Mullin will be Noem’s replacement.
“That was a misspoke”
I’ve been covering Republican politics for more than a dozen years now, so I’m used to absurd rhetoric and tragicomical gaffing. But Mullin’s performance in the days since Trump launched his war on Iran has nonetheless been special.
Mullin’s gaggle with reporters Tuesday after senators were briefed on Iran by Secretary of State Rubio produced a clip for the ages. He began by declaring of Trump’s bombing campaign that “this is war” — a reality most congressional Republicans have been loathe to acknowledge — but he suffered an apparent bout of amnesia moments later when a reporter asked him, “You’ll concede this is war?”
“We haven’t declared war,” Mullin said. “They declared war on us.”
But reporters promptly reminded Mullin that in addition to Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth calling it a war, he himself had just done so moments earlier.
“Okay. That was a misspoke,” Mullin replied.
That tour de force came a day after Mullin went on any cable show that would have him and committed a string of gaffs, including repeatedly confusing Iraq and Iran …
… and more than once referring to Hegseth as “President Hegseth.” (God forbid.)
Mullin was one of Trump’s primary cable news surrogates for his State of the Union. On the day of the speech, Mullin went on five different networks — including two simultaneously — and talked about telling his chiropractor he’d be “crazy” to vacation in Mexico before taking a victory lap on behalf of the administration for stopping the fall of inflation. (Who wants to tell him?)
It should also be mentioned that Mullin — who took over his dad’s plumbing company and is the only US senator without a bachelor’s degree — has no background in law enforcement. So what does Trump see in him? Probably some combination of golden retriever-like loyalty, willingness to avoid trysts on swanky government planes, and an understanding that cabinet officials should be heat shields instead of deflecting problems onto the boss.
Noem, meanwhile, ended her tenure at DHS on a fittingly dystopian note. Trump’s post announcing her firing broke just before she took the stage to deliver a speech in Nashville, and it wasn’t clear as she was speaking if she even knew she was out. Instead of talking about her new role as something called “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” Noem’s most memorable moment came when she falsely attributed a quote to George Orwell (always a risky name to bring up if you work for Trump!) about how “people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
Mullin’s rhetoric about DHS’s killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti was just as defamatory as Noem’s, and late last year he endorsed Trump and Hegseth using “lethality against our enemies — home and abroad." It’d be naive to assume he’ll work to rein in Trump’s thugs or curb the worst excesses of ICE and CBP. Still, Noem’s firing is significant. At a time when it’s tempting to believe nothing matters, it’s reassuring to be reminded that there still can be consequences for abusing power, harming people, and corrupt self-dealing.
With Trump’s numbers in the ditch and only getting worse — a Fox News poll released Wednesday showed him 14 points underwater — Noem may be the first high-profile firing of Trump 2.0, but she almost certainly won’t be the last. Trump wants you to believe he’s invincible, but in reality he’s flailing to get away from the electoral tsunami that’s coming later this year.
That’s it for now
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I’ll be back this afternoon with a new edition of Nir & Rupar, but no Saturday edition of the newsletter this week. We’ll be back with more Monday. Until then, thanks for reading, and have a good one.
As Bill Kristol points out, instead of firing people, “Trump has to give the people he fires another job (and privately assure them they’ll still be in on the grift) so they don’t turn on him and spill the beans on all the corruption and illegality they’ve seen.”
“As Bill Kristol points out, instead of firing people, “Trump has to give the people he fires another job (and privately assure them they’ll still be in on the grift) so they don’t turn on him and spill the beans on all the corruption and illegality they’ve seen.””
He will do anything to stay out of prison as a pedophile. And I believe he is a pedophile. Thanks, Aaron. By the way, has Lewandowski been reassigned as well? 🙄
How typical of Trump to fire her by social media, when she was out of town and speaking at a public event. That's his favorite MO, isn't it? Maximum humiliation for the victim whole the cowardly boss doesn't have to face her. He made his phony reputation as a tough businessman on "The Aoprentice" by firing people, but when it comes to actually doing it he hides in bunker.