Trump sacks Kristi Noem: what does it mean for ICE? – The Latest

Summary

Podcast Summary: Trump sacks Kristi Noem: what does it mean for ICE?

Podcast: Today in Focus – The Latest
Date: March 6, 2026
Host: Nosheen Iqbal
Guest: Chris Michael (Guardian US Live News Editor)
Duration: ~10 minutes

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Episode Overview

This episode examines the surprise firing of Kristi Noem, the US Homeland Security secretary, by President Donald Trump and explores what her departure means for ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and the administration’s broader immigration strategy. Host Nosheen Iqbal discusses the background, events that led to Noem’s sacking, her legacy at DHS, and the implications of her replacement with Markwayne Mullin. The conversation features sharp analysis, colorful anecdotes, and reflection on the changing Trump administration.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Who is Kristi Noem? (02:14–03:32)

• Background:

  • Former South Dakota governor, known for her ultraconservative stance (“very anti abortion, very anti immigration” – Chris Michael, 02:44).
  • Notably controversial for admitting to shooting her dog, which became public after a Guardian scoop and derailed her VP chances.
  • Appointed as Homeland Security secretary after Trump’s re-election victory.

• ICE Leadership:

  • Became the “face, really, of Trump’s immigration crackdown” since Homeland Security oversees ICE.
  • Nicknamed “ICE Barbie” for her “performatively dressing up” and highly stylized public persona (Chris Michael, 01:24, 03:32).

2. Noem’s Tenure and Controversies at DHS (03:32–06:26)

• Initial Actions:

  • Trump’s administration prioritized immigration, nearly shutting the border and stopping all refugee applications.
  • Noem led a heavily funded, aggressive ICE enforcement campaign targeting “the worst of the worst criminals,” which in reality mostly affected individuals “with no criminal record at all” (Chris Michael, 03:41).

• Media Persona and Backlash:

  • Widely known for glamorous appearances—“makeup… plastic surgery vibes... hats with rhinestones... photo shoots that offended many, including posing in front of deportees” (Chris Michael, 04:37).
  • Famously posed at El Salvador’s notorious Secot jail (04:57).

• Scandals:

  • Rumors about an affair with Corey Lewandowski persisted.
  • Central controversy: appeared in a $220 million ICE ad campaign, featuring her in self-promoting visuals (e.g., riding in front of Mount Rushmore).
    • “This ad really seems to have struck a bit of a nerve … was this not just an ad for you?” (Chris Michael, 05:44).
  • At a congressional hearing, she claimed “Trump knew all about this ad;” Trump later denied any knowledge, “quite clearly throwing Noem under the bus” (Chris Michael, 06:26).
  • Shortly after, Trump “started calling around to senators… and ended up pulling the plug” (Chris Michael, 06:59).

• Quote:

  • “She was saying all the right things. She was flattering the president. But then she started to generate headlines for maybe the wrong reasons.” (Chris Michael, 01:24)

3. The Aftermath: Noem’s New Role & Trump’s Calculus (07:08–08:43)

• Not Fully Exiled:

  • Instead of complete dismissal, Noem is appointed to lead “Shield of the Americas,” an emerging association of Latin American countries focused on counterterrorism and drug trafficking (07:19).
  • “She hasn’t been pushed out of orbit completely, in part probably because Trump really hates the idea that he might be seen to cave to media pressure…” (Chris Michael, 07:19).

• Fallout from Minneapolis ICE Operation:

  • References a failed enforcement push in Minneapolis, which saw the death of American citizens, causing negative optics (07:19–08:14).
  • Noem worsened the situation by calling the victims “domestic terrorists,” requiring the administration to later walk back her comments.

• Trump’s Approach:

  • Despite liking her hardline efforts, Trump disliked the negative optics, especially when Americans were killed. Thus, she was dismissed, but “keeping her in orbit” signals to other officials the limit—“there is a line that you can’t cross, and that line is contradicting [Trump]” (Chris Michael, 08:43).

4. Noem’s Replacement: Markwayne Mullin (08:43–09:31)

• Bio & Stance:
  • Senator from Oklahoma with a decade in the House, Cherokee heritage; described as an “extremely conservative… MAGA culture warrior.”
  • Notorious for proposing the deportation of US-born children of undocumented immigrants:
    • “He said that the kids of people who are deported should also be deported with them, even if they’re born on American soil… what he’s proposing is pretty horrible.” (Chris Michael, 08:51)
• Implication:
  • “He’s almost certainly going to pick up where Noem left off.” (Chris Michael, 09:31)

5. Will This Mark a Change in ICE Policy? (09:31–10:56)

• Ideological Continuity:
  • Both Noem and Mullin are hardliners; “Trump has not backed off his immigration enforcement operation. Domestically, it remains a key part of what they want to achieve.” (Chris Michael, 09:54)
• Possible Tactical Shift:
  • Suggestion that practical implementation may be less confrontational to avoid bad optics (e.g., less aggressive ICE actions, reducing negative media coverage):
    • “You might see Mullen doing something similar, kind of keeping up the rhetoric but perhaps slightly toning down the sort of actions on the ground. But it remains to be seen.” (Chris Michael, 10:56)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Noem’s Persona:

  • “She earned the perhaps slightly unfair moniker ICE Barbie because of her habit of sort of performatively dressing up.” (Chris Michael, 03:32)

• On the ICE Ad Scandal:

  • “She said, well, Trump knew all about this ad, and this was a kind of clear effort to say, well, you know, it wasn’t me, it was the boss… And shortly thereafter Trump was asked about the ad. And he said, no, I didn’t know anything about that. So quite clearly throwing Noem under the bus…” (Chris Michael, 06:26)

• On Noem’s (Non)Departure:

  • “He doesn’t want to make it look like that’s why he got rid of her. So he’s keeping her in orbit. He can say, oh yeah, she’s great, she did a great job, while also sort of showing the other people around that there is a line that you can’t cross, and that line is contradicting [Trump].” (Chris Michael, 08:43)

• On Mullin’s Hardline Proposals:

  • “He said that the kids of people who are deported should also be deported with them, even if they’re born on American soil… what he’s proposing is pretty horrible.” (Chris Michael, 08:51)

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Key Timestamps

• [02:14] Introduction of Kristi Noem’s background and tenure
• [03:32] Noem’s leadership of ICE and public controversies
• [05:44] Details of the controversial ICE advertisement and congressional backlash
• [06:26] The pivotal moment: Trump distances himself and fires Noem
• [07:19] Discussion of Noem’s new “Shield of the Americas” role and fallout over Minneapolis operation
• [08:43] Introduction of Markwayne Mullin as Noem’s replacement and his ideology
• [09:54] Speculation on policy continuity and possible tactical shifts at ICE

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Tone & Language

• The conversation is direct, lightly irreverent (e.g., references to “ICE Barbie,” “Mar-a-Lago face”), but analytically focused.
• Chris Michael uses inside political language and strong, memorable imagery (“looked like an Italian fascist or worse”).
• Nosheen Iqbal grounds the discussion with pointed questions and clarifications, summarizing complex stories for clarity.

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Conclusion

This episode’s brisk, insightful analysis makes sense of Kristi Noem’s sudden dismissal, her tumultuous time as the face of Trump’s immigration crackdown, and the equally hardline direction expected from her replacement, Markwayne Mullin. The conversation underscores Trump’s desire to maintain an ironclad narrative on immigration while limiting damaging fallout—and leaves open questions about how ICE will evolve under its new leadership.

Transcript

[Guardian Announcer]

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[Chris Michael]

The face really of Trump's immigration crackdown. She earned the perhaps slightly unfair moniker ICE Barbie. And she was saying all the right things. She was flattering the president. But then she started to generate headlines for maybe the wrong reasons. This ad really seems to have struck a bit of a nerve. She made what maybe was her fatal error. She said Trump knew all about this ad. Trump was asked about this and he said, no, I didn't know anything about that. He started to realize that basically her made for tea TV shtick wasn't kind of working quite the way it should have.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Donald Trump has sacked his Homeland Security secretary. What does that mean for the future of ICE from the Guardians today In focus, this is the latest. With me, Noshi Nikbal. Joining me today is Guardian US Live news editor Chris Michael. Chris, thanks for being here.

[Chris Michael]

Thanks for having me.

[Noshi Nikbal]

So Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary for the US has, has gone. She has been sacked in a announcement made by Trump on social media just moments before she was due to address this conference in Tennessee. It looked incredibly awkward. Now, I think she's the first major casualty of Trump's cabinet in this second term. Very different from the first. It was like a revolving door. Let's start with the basics. What can you tell me about who Kristy Noemi is and what she stands for?

[Chris Michael]

Well, she was the former governor of South Dakota, a very conservative politician, you know, very anti abortion, very anti immigration, and famously admitted in a memoir to taking one of her dogs to a gravel pit and shooting it, which is originally a kind of a Guardian scoop, actually. So she was tipped as a potential vice presidential pick for Trump until this dog shooting story got out. Right. But when Trump won, he installed her as the head of the Department of Homeland Security. So big job, the face, really, of Trump's immigration crackdown, because under DHS is the agency ice, Immigration and Customs Enforcement. And that has been the sort of tip of the spear for Trump's immigration push.

[Noshi Nikbal]

And she's been very much the face of ICE in some ways because she's put herself very much front and center of that campaign. But how did she actually do in the role?

[Chris Michael]

Well, I suppose it depends on who you ask. Certainly from Trump's perspective, I think you might have argued that the first six months or so were great. I mean, immigration is the kind of key issue that he campaigned on red meat for his base. And he did indeed launch a massive crackdown. They more or less closed the border, stopped all refugee applications. And internally, Stephen Miller was leading a lot of that sort of externally, but internally, Kristi Noem took charge of the enforcement push domestically, and ICE got a huge amount of funding. Tons of new agents were hired, and there was this kind of, you know, a big push to round up people that they said were the kind of worst of the worst criminals, but it turned out were actually, you know, in most cases, had no criminal record at all. But Noem owned all of this. You know, she earned the perhaps slightly unfair moniker ICE Barbie because of her habit of sort of performatively dressing up.

[Noshi Nikbal]

She's very glam.

[Chris Michael]

She's very glam, yeah. She's got, you know, makeup. She's got this sort of mar a Lago face, plastic surgery vibes. She loves wearing, you know, hats with rhinestones, let's say MAGA and that kind of thing on it, and, you know, did a few sort of photo shoots that were actually quite offensive to many people, including posing in front of a bunch of deportees.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Jail cell?

[Chris Michael]

Yeah, in El Salvador at the Secot jail, the sort of terrible draconian prison where a lot of people were deported to. So, yeah, I mean, but, you know, I think as far as Trump was concerned, all that was good. She was saying all the right things about Trump's push. She was flattering the president, like all of his cabinet members do. But then she started to generate headlines for maybe the wrong reasons.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Okay. So, I mean, it is one thing shooting your dog and posing in these really grotesque photo shoots, as you said. And then she also put herself, as I understand it, in this $220 million ad campaign to advertise the department, basically. And then this week, she was up in front of a congressional hearing. Chris, what happened and why might that have been the moment that it was over for her?

[Chris Michael]

Well, yeah, as you say, I mean, there were lots of sort of semi scandals. You know, there's been this rumor of an affair with her and an aide who was a sort of a Trump campaign advisor in 2016 at his first run, Corey Lewandowski. But this ad really seems to have struck a bit of a nerve. It's, yeah, as you say, incredibly expensive, basically. Campaign ad for ICE that just pictures. Yes, well, exactly. That's what members of Congress were saying. Was this not just an ad for you? Because it shows her on a horse riding around in front of Mount Rushmore?

[Noshi Nikbal]

Why do I love these wide open spaces? They remind me of why our forefathers came here, not just for its beauty, but for the freedom only America provides. I'm Kristi Noem.

[Chris Michael]

And yeah, and so a lot of people are saying, look, did you not just do this to promote yourself? And she made what maybe was her fatal error. She said, well, Trump knew all about this ad, and this was a kind of clear effort to say, well, you know, it wasn't me, it was the boss trying to maybe bloody his hands a little bit. And shortly thereafter, Trump was asked about the. And he said, no, I didn't know anything about that. So quite clearly throwing Noem under the bus, that was, I think, the moment where she would have known probably that she was doomed. Trump started calling around to senators and saying, you know, should I get rid of her?

[Noshi Nikbal]

Right.

[Chris Michael]

And ended up, yeah, pulling the plug and making her the first person he fired in his new administration, in the Cabinet anyway.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But he didn't entirely press the eject button like he normally would have done or like we would have expected from him. She is somewhat still in the game. What is her new role and why do you think that is?

[Chris Michael]

So her new role is to head up this association of Latin American countries that Trump is organizing called Shield of the Americas. So it's this organization that will probably be set up to counter terrorism and maybe drug trafficking. They're having their first meeting this weekend, so we don't really know a whole lot about it yet. But Noam will be there as well as Trump. So she hasn't been pushed out of orbit completely, in part probably because Trump really hates the idea that he might be seen to cave to media pressure about criticism. Right. So, you know, it's all the stuff that she actually did on the ground in Minneapolis and the massive blowback from the enforcement operation there. Where a couple of American citizens were killed. It, you know, it. I think the immigration bit of it he really liked, but he doesn't like the optics of American citizens being killed, particularly white American citizens. And Nome sort of owned that.

[Noshi Nikbal]

And she called them domestic terrorists.

[Chris Michael]

Yeah, exactly. And then the administration had to walk that back. So I think that he started to realize that basically her made for TV shtick wasn't kind of working quite the way it should have. And so, yeah, so he got rid of her, but he doesn't want to make it look like that's why he got rid of her. So he's keeping her in orbit. He can say, oh, yeah, she's great. She did a great job, while also sort of showing the other people around that there is a line that you can't cross, and that line is contradicting.

[Noshi Nikbal]

Don, what can you tell me about her replacement, the Republican senator from Oklahoma, Mark Wayne Mullen, and what qualifies him for the Post?

[Chris Michael]

Well, yeah, he's the senator from Oklahoma. He was in the house for 10 years before that. He's the youngest of seven kids. He's. He's of Cherokee heritage. His name, unusual name. Mark Wayne is apparently a combination of two of his uncle's names. He's also extremely conservative, also a kind of MAGA culture warrior. You know, famously, he said that the kids of people who are deported should also be deported with them, even if they're born on American soil. That is, even if they're American citizens. He said, well, why would you want to separate kids from their families? But, I mean, what he's proposing is pretty horrible. So, yeah, I mean, he's almost certainly going to pick up where Nome left off.

[Noshi Nikbal]

But then Chris Noam was a person who oversaw ice, as you've explained, and arguably that has been a disaster for Trump's polling domestically. Do you think now that he's installed Mullen, who is, I think, only the second Native American to reach the Cabinet in a Cabinet post, do you think this could mark any kind of pivot in ISIS approach?

[Chris Michael]

I think ideologically, probably no. Mullen is just as conservative as Noem was. And Trump has not backed off his immigration enforcement operation. Domestically, it remains a kind of key part of what they want to achieve. But maybe practically, you might see a bit of a calming. I mean, in Minnesota, he got rid of Greg Bevino, who was the kind of the guy in the great coat with the shaved head who sort of looked a bit like an Italian fascist or worse, got rid of him because he looked like he was sort of going a bit hard. And the images of tear gas everywhere with protesters was something Trump didn't really like. And he replaced him with Tom Homan, the border czar. Also extremely right wing, also very anti immigration, but a bit calmer. And the first thing that he did really within about a week or two was withdraw ICE from Minnesota, not completely, but to sort of draw down this big operation that they had there. So you might see Mullen doing something similar, kind of keeping up the rhetoric, but perhaps slightly toning down the sort of actions on the ground. But it remains to be seen.

[Noshi Nikbal]

We'll wait and see. Chris, thank you so much for your time.

[Chris Michael]

Thanks, machine.

[Noshi Nikbal]

That's it for today. My huge thanks again to Kris Michael. Thanks for listening to this episode of the latest Today in Focus. We'll be back with you as usual on Monday morning and we'll be back on Monday night. This episode was presented by me, Noshi Nikbal. The producers were Stefania Orlando and Nicola Alexandru. The senior producer was Ryan Ramgobin and the lead producer was Zoe Hitch.

[Guardian Announcer]

This is the guardian

[Noshi Nikbal]

foreign.

[Guardian Announcer]

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