Few, if any, of Donald Trump’s Cabinet members have featured themselves so prominently as a figurehead within their agencies as former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The South Dakota Republican centralized herself at many turns throughout her tenure. She posed with loaded guns next to immigration enforcement officers. She appeared at briefings decked out in tactical gear. She visited active operations, with constant in-house promotional footage produced along the way.
Unlike most agency heads, Noem made herself and her image — steely-eyed and polished — synonymous with both deportation and the department.
And those in the president’s inner circle noticed. Despite Trump himself punting on calls to replace her, those close to him privately expressed frustration with her handling of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in Minnesota, where agents fatally shot two U.S. citizens in January. Other factors mounted with time: her personal relationship with DHS “special government employee” Corey Lewandowski, reports of staff mistreatment and a general eschewing of other priorities like dispensing Federal Emergency Management Agency payments or signing off on large contracts.
Republican womanhood has now come to embrace contradictory visual and political demands, and Noem’s leaning into her femininity — including her pivot from a short pixie cut to long, flowing hair and an infamous teeth adjustment — served as a counter to her inhabiting a masculine sheriff persona.
“It’s all about her appeal to an audience of one,” Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told the New York Times in March 2024, as Noem was under consideration to become Trump’s running mate. “The whole teeth thing almost looks like it was done for Trump to see. She is showing him she works well in front of the camera, that she has that star power he wants onstage with him, while fitting into the mode of women in the Trump universe.”
While she didn’t secure the second spot on the ticket, the appearance overhaul did seem to appeal to Trump, who tapped her to lead one of his most consequential agencies shortly after winning re-election.
“You’re not allowed to say she’s beautiful, so I’m not going to say it,” Trump said, praising Noem last year.
Outside of impressing the president, Noem’s performance was designed to be an assuaging yet authoritative presence in an immigration-fueled storm to the Republican base that craved order from Trump’s inauguration onward.
In an unusual move for an agency head, Noem frequently appeared in heavily produced ride-along videos with law enforcement officers. These encounters, which would often appear on official DHS social media channels, showcased the secretary interacting directly with people being forcibly arrested — calmly explaining to one detainee in the back of a van, “You will be removed from this country and never get the chance to come back.”
But Noem’s aesthetic approach to the position also made her stand out as a target for ridicule and criticism, including the nickname “ICE Barbie.” The satirical show “South Park” poked fun at her facial work and heavy makeup, while right-wing commentators like Megyn Kelly said she should “stop trying to glamorize the mission … as you cosplay ICE agent, which you’re not” last April.
“Conservatives need a distinct aesthetic, but this one isn’t it,” conservative commentator Christopher Rufo said last April, criticizing her “girlboss tacticool” visuals.
Members of Congress also noted Noem’s use of her own image as a campaign tactic in several congressional hearings. Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, confronted her about her taped appearances at ICE raids during a Homeland Security Committee hearing last May.
“Whatever got you here, Secretary Noem, I’m glad you found time among your many photo ops and costume changes to testify about why President Trump is seeking more taxpayer dollars, and what do you plan to do with that money if you get it,” Thompson said.
One of Noem’s most egregious judgment calls was a $220 million ad campaign, awarded to a then-days-old company with personal and business ties to the secretary. The campaign focused on Noem and featured clips of Trump and the border wall. In the videos, the immigration chief discourages immigrants from entering the country illegally — reminiscent of political campaign videos rather than the usual stylings of public service announcements.
During her appearance on Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Republican Sen. John Kennedy pressed her on the ads’ primary purpose as “effective in your name recognition.” Specifically, he asked if the president had approved ahead of time the multimillion dollar campaign, which he suggested had put Trump in “a terribly awkward spot.” Noem testified that Trump had indeed signed off, and asked her to craft it to thank him for his border policies — a statement that deeply frustrated the president later and which he categorized as untrue.
Kennedy further blasted the decision to award the ad contract as something the Office of Management and Budget or congressional appropriations committees would never have approved — particularly as DHS avoided a competitive bidding process while under national emergency at the time.
Trump said in a Truth Social post following her firing that Noem “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results.”
Noem attempted to readjust her profile to fit her vision for the department. The president’s pick to replace her with Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin — a former mixed martial arts fighter who Trump described on Thursday as a “MAGA warrior” — will make over DHS’ image once again.
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