• by Tanya Gazdik , March 5, 2026

President Donald Trump has fired Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after stating that she lied to Congress about getting his approval for a $220 million ad campaign.

“I never knew anything about it,” Trump told Reuters in a phone interview.

Two sources close to the White House told the New York Post that Trump is furious that Noem testified that he approved of the ads — and set in motion his later move to fire her, the first cabinet shakeup of his second term. 

Trump fired Noem on Truth Social and announced Sen. Markwayne Mullen (R-Okla.) as her replacement.

Noem faced bipartisan criticism over the commercials during U.S. congressional hearings this week.

“The ad features Noem, donning a cowboy hat on horseback, moving out of a wooded clearing in the Black Hills of South Dakota, the state where she was formerly the governor,” according to The Hill. 

“Why do I love these wide open spaces?” Noem asks. “They remind me of why our forefathers came here. Not just for its beauty, but for the freedom only America provides.”

Lauren Bis, Department of Homeland Security deputy assistant secretary, said the international ad campaign prompted more than 2.2 million illegal immigrants to self-deport and saved taxpayers more than $39 billion, according to Fox News. 

Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin tore into Noem with a blistering series of criticisms to her face on Wednesday.

The top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee accused Noem of using billions of dollars given to DHS as a “personal slush fund” for her glitzy ad campaign and luxury jet travel, according to The Daily Beast.

“You budgeted an astonishing $220 million for media consultant contracts so you can star in self-promoting photo shoots and lavish ad campaigns featuring the Lifestyles of Rich and Famous Cabinet Secretaries, like this one of you on horseback at Mount Rushmore, which was shot during last year’s government shutdown,” Raskin said.