Kristi Noem To Be Picked As Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, CNN Reports

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

President-elect Donald Trump has reportedly chosen South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to serve as the next U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.

According to CNN, which cited two unnamed sources “familiar with the selection,” Noem will be nominated by Trump to replace Alejandro Mayorkas as the Secretary of Homeland Security, where she will oversee the border alongside former acting ICE director Thomas Homan and immigration adviser Stephen Miller – who have been selected to serve as Trump’s “Border Czar” and White House deputy chief of staff in the next administration respectively.

Earlier this year, Trump acknowledged Noem was on the shortlist to be his 2024 running mate. However, Noem’s prospects tanked after she revealed in her book No Going Back that she had killed her own dog after it had proved “less than worthless” as a hunting animal and killed several chickens.

“I hated that dog,” wrote Noem in the book, recalling how she led the dog to a gravel pit and then shot it to death.

The governor also confessed to killing a “disgusting, musky, rancid” goat after it knocked her children over.

Noem received heavy backlash over the anecdote, including from several Fox pundits and conservative commentator Megyn Kelly.

Trump himself was also reportedly “disgusted” by Noem’s story and privately questioned, “Why would she do that?… What is wrong with her?”

Vice President-elect JD Vance went on to be picked as Trump’s 2024 running mate. However, Noem remained a loyal surrogate, campaigning with Trump in the battleground state of Pennsylvania.