Kristi Noem’s Most Controversial Moments: Lewandowski Affair, Shot Puppy and More

President Trump announced on March 5th that he was firing Homeland Security Secretary Christy Gnome after her disastrous appearances testifying before Congress with Trump naming Senator Mark Wayne Mullen as his nominee to fill the role. The secretary was one of Trump's most polarizing cabinet figures with the former South Dakota governor experiencing no shortage of controversy before and during her tenure at DHS. From scandalous reports of an alleged affair to high-profile botching of operations, here are Chrissy Gnome's most controversial moments. One of Gnome's first points of criticism came after a series of photo ops and [music] staged video shoots. Gnome was slammed as wildly out of touch in March 2025 when she wore a $60,000 Rolex Daytona watch to tour a run-down El Salvador in prison where hundreds of Venezuelan migrants had been deported and incarcerated. In April, Gnome caught swift blowback for appearing in a DHS video holding a rifle inadvertently pointed dangerously close to a law enforcement officer's head. The glammed up appearances were heavily scrutinized as self-promotional, earning the always camera ready secretary the moniker of Ice Barbie. One of Gnome's first major appearances in national headlines came before her time as secretary in May 2024 after the publishing of her book, No Going Back, in which she shockingly included an anecdote about how she shot and killed her dog. The book detailed how Gnome executed a 14-month wire-haired pointer named Cricut. Gnome wrote that she hated the dog because its bad behavior made it untrainable [music] as a hunting dog. Nome was completely unashamed of the incident and said she wanted to include the story in her book because she felt it showed her decisiveness as a leader. She defended her actions on News Nation. >> If you read the book, you will see this was something that happened 20 years ago. [music] And this book is filled with with vulnerable stories, painful decisions that I've had. And at that point in time, I had a decision between the protection of my children [music] and the people that were in our lives and a dangerous animal that was killing livestock and attacking people. I wanted them to hear it in my words that [music] listen, most politicians would run from the truth and they would run from making hard decisions. I don't do either of those. >> The controversy caused bipartisan outrage and all but ended [music] the then South Dakota governor's chances of being Donald Trump's running mate in the presidential election. Perhaps the biggest source of outrage came in January 2026 during her department's deployment in Minnesota that led to the high-profile fatal shootings of anti-ICE protesters Renee Good and Alex Prey. Gnome went on to label the incidents domestic terrorism as the Twin Cities plunged into a state of chaos with heated clashes between protesters and law enforcement over the viral killings from federal agents. The widespread criticism of Gnome led Trump to put her internal rival, borders Tom H. Homeman, in charge of calming tensions. The pandemonium left Gnome's public image as well as her support from the right waning. However, an [music] ad campaign starring herself, which cost $220 million to presumably heave her reputation, only made things worse. On March 3rd, Gnome appeared on Capitol Hill for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing involving oversight of her department, and the whopping cost of the ad campaign targeting illegal migrants quickly took center stage [music] with pointed outrage from both Democrats and Republicans alike. We're an exceptional nation and one of the reasons we're exceptional is we expect exceptional leadership and you've demonstrated anything but that in the time that I've seen you responding to the emergency in North Carolina and across the Southeast and acknowledging when mistakes are made. Gnome testified that President Trump had knowledge of and approved the wildly expensive TV spot as she was grilled by Senator John Kennedy who seemed gobsmacked by the possibility that Trump would have approved such an expenditure. [music] And >> one thing, Senator, I think would be helpful to know is how effective that communications has been that overwhelming effective in your name recognition. Um, I mean I I I personally just I mean to me it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot and it it it and I just I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. It's just hard for me to believe. >> Trump went on to tell Reuters he quote never knew anything about it. Kennedy told reporters that Gnome's answer left President Trump mad as a murder hornet and had already been considering replacing her. However, the final straw prompting President Trump to fire Gnome was her stunning non-answer at a House hearing the following day about whether she had sexual relations with top aid Corey Luwendowski. Sources inside and close to the White House told the Post, >> "Have you had sexual relations with Corey Luwendowski?" Mr. Chairman, I am shocked that we're going down and pedalling tabloid garbage in this committee today. Questions have swirled about Nome and Luwendowski's relationship dating back years as previously reported by the Post. However, the scandal received renewed attention after a bombshell report last month. According to the Wall Street Journal, Luwendowski, an unpaid special government employee who unofficially acts as chief of staff for Gnome, fired a Coast Guard pilot for leaving Gnome's blanket behind after the group had to switch planes. Luwendowski has disputed the account of the incident. Gnome's husband, Brian, joined her in Congress and sat behind his wife as lawmakers peppered her with questions. Despite a repeated pushing from lawmakers for a yes or no response about the alleged affair, Gnome still deflected. Trump's ousting of Gnome is now the first cabinet shakeup of his second term.

President Trump announced on March 5th that he was firing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem after her disastrous appearances testifying before Congress — with Trump naming Sen. Markwayne Mullin as his nominee to fill the role. The now-former secretary was one of Trump’s most polarizing cabinet figures, with the former South Dakota governor experiencing no shortage of controversy before and during her tenure at DHS. From scandalous reports of an alleged affair, to high-profile botching of operations, here are Kristi Noem’s most controversial moments. Read more at: https://nypost.com/us-news/all-kristi-noem-controversies-scandals/ The New York Post is your source for breaking news, news about New York, sports, business, entertainment, opinion, real estate, culture, fashion, and more. Check out our three new podcasts: NYNext (week): https://www.youtube.com/@nynext1 Pod Force One with MIranda Devine (weekly): https://www.youtube.com/@PodForce1 NY POSTcast (daily): https://www.youtube.com/@NYPOSTcast Get The Post’s latest headlines everyday with our Morning Report newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/NYPOSTSIGNUP Catch the latest news at http://www.nypost.com. Follow The New York Post on: Twitter - https://twitter.com/nypost Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NYPost