Ousted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had lent first lady Melania Trump one of the agency’s luxury jets as an “insurance policy” to protect her from backlash over her spending of taxpayer dollars, according to a new report.
Noem was axed Thursday via a Truth Social post, in which President Donald Trump praised the secretary for “numerous and spectacular results” while announcing her departure from the Department of Homeland Security at the end of the month.
Trump said Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma would take over Noem’s post and Noem would become the special envoy for Trump’s new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere, “The Shield of the Americas.”
Noem has been criticized over the tactics used by federal agents in carrying out Trump’s massive immigration crackdown, which resulted in the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis, and for spending on lavish jets and ad campaigns predominantly featuring the secretary.
DHS had purchased two Gulfstream private jets for Noem and other top officials for $172 million, The New York Times reported last October. The agency was also reportedly hoping to buy a Boeing 737 Max 8, which it's currently leasing, for $70 million.
NBC News reported last month that the Boeing jet includes a bedroom with a queen-sized bed, a bar and four flat-screen TVs. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told the White House the jet would be used to transport Cabinet officials and to deport immigrants, two DHS officials told NBC News.
Axios reported Thursday that Noem and Corey Lewandowski, her top adviser and rumored affair partner, had lent the Boeing jet to Melania. Noem and Lewandowski, both married to other people, have denied allegations of an affair.
The first lady reportedly used the jet to travel from Washington, D.C., to New York on several occasions. According to one Trump administration official who spoke to Axios, Noem and Lewandowski had an ulterior motive when allowing Melania to use the jet.
"They're smart. Corey is really smart. I don't take that away from them. Because they flew the first lady on it, they think they're bulletproof," the official said. The official called the move an “insurance policy” for their spending.
The Independent has reached out to DHS and the first lady’s office for comment.
But in the end, Noem got the boot, which came shortly after the secretary was grilled by Congress for her alleged mismanagement of DHS. Lewandowski is also reportedly leaving the agency.
In Senate and House hearings this week, Noem defended a $220 million ad campaign to promote border security, which includes a scene of Noem on a horse in front of Mount Rushmore in her home state of South Dakota.
Trump said Thursday he did not sign off on the ad campaign, telling Reuters, “I never knew anything about it,” despite Noem telling the Senate that the president had approved the ads.
Noem thanked Trump Thursday for her new position in the “Shield of the Americas” initiative and said she looked forward to working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to “dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”
