President Trump has begun describing his Homeland Security secretary, Markwayne Mullin, to people close to him as "weak and off message," according to reporting this week from the Wall Street Journal — a notable shift toward a Cabinet member he handpicked barely four months ago. One senior administration official confirmed the president's frustration but said there's no active plan to remove him from the post.
Trump tapped Mullin for DHS in March, installing him in place of Kristi Noem after her tenure was upended by backlash over two fatal shootings of civilians by immigration officers in Minnesota. The former Oklahoma senator was viewed as a safe pair of hands who could quiet the controversy swirling around the agency. His closeness with Trump reportedly traces back years earlier, to a stretch when the president repeatedly checked in on Mullin while Mullin's teenage son fought to recover from a severe head injury.
