Live updates: Trump homeland security nominee promises ‘better approach’ on immigration enforcement

Brandon Drenon
Reporting from Washington

Donald Trump announced he was replacing Kristi Noem on 5 March, ending her stint as the head of the Department of Homeland Security after little more than a year.

In his announcement, he did not say why he was letting Noem go but on Truth Social thanked her for “spectacular results (especially on the Border!)”

Her removal came as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – the agency responsible for carrying out Trump’s deportation agenda – came under increasing scrutiny and criticism over the actions of its agents.

After ICE agents shot and killed Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota during immigration protests, Noem defended the agents while seeking to cast the victims as “domestic terrorists”.

Since their deaths, public polling for how Trump has handled his immigration enforcement has plummeted.

Democrats in Congress also blasted Noem for spending $220m of taxpayer money on an advertising blitz starring herself, and nearly $200m on two luxury jets for her official travel.

She defended the spending during a congressional hearing, saying Trump approved it – but the president told Reuters he was not aware of the expensive campaign. “I never knew anything about it,” he said.

Trump said he planned to move Noem to a new job as special envoy for a new US security initiative in the Western hemisphere called the Shield of the Americas.