Politics > Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem Out – Film at Eleven

Noem's mistakes were visible to a political ad pro from a mile away.

Ned Barnett | March 11, 2026

On a Truth Social post last week, President Trump fired DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, giving her the consolation prize as head of the Shield of the Americas organization, which is in the process of being created.

After the way she handled two fatal shootings by DHS agents in Minneapolis, as well as by testimony this week into her very expensive, self-serving ad campaign, all coupled with her apparent affair with key White House Advisor to President Trump, Corey Lewandowski, I was surprised by the soft landing Trump gave her.

He didn’t need to do that, though it probably makes the whole transition less controversial than it might have been.

Kristi, once in DHS, did everything wrong.

Having spent much of my career in advertising, I felt her DHS ad campaign was going to cost her, big time. Now it has. But it had a little bit of help in her other actions, too.

Now-former cabinet secretary Kristi Noem had always been a controversial choice for heading Homeland Security in the second Trump administration. A regular series of Quinnipiac University polls validates that she never had a majority support, even among Trump supporters.

At the time of her firing, 56 percent of all voters, and 62 percent independents, which Trump needs to push his agenda forward. – didn’t support her.

She went way overboard with her charges that the two people killed – in self-defense, as ruled by the courts – were actually domestic terrorists. In doing so, she tied Trump into a poorly considered and largely inaccurate set of charges. Basically, she broke at least five rules of working for the president.

Trump Rule Number One:  Do NOT make the big boss look bad.

She also was apparently involved in a long-running affair with key Trump advisor Corey Lewanowski. Among others, Megyn Kelly reported that the couple – both of them married to other people – were repeatedly seen in public holding hands, and on government flights they shared, she liked to sit on his lap.

Clearly, Trump has enough flaming cats to juggle without having to deal with a high profile salacious affair within his cabinet, especially with someone who’s been a member of Trump’s inner circle since before his first term as president.

Noem’s the senior member of this affair. The onus is on her. Apparently, she and Lewandowski have been “an item” for a long time. Megyn Kelly has been a primary, real-time source for my reporting on this affair, and she had two experts on her show this past week, highlighting details.

The timing on this charge has been awful, coming so close on the heels of congressional hearings targeting former President Clinton about Jeffrey Epstein, which led to calls that Trump also be called to testify about his own relations with the late serial pedophile.

There are several reasons why this affair has come out at this particular time. Trump continues to be quizzed about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein, which means it’s not going to be in a forgiving mood when it comes to extramarital affairs.

Rule Number Two: Do NOT link the big boss to the Epstein fiasco.

Rule Number Three: Do NOT link the big boss to extra-marital affairs.

For one reason, I’ve been expecting her termination, surprised that she wasn’t “shown the door” almost a year ago.

The reason is advertising.

While still governor of South Dakota, Noem was best known for an ad campaign, starring Kristi Noem, encouraging people to find high-paying jobs in South Dakota. Not surprising – as soon as she was named head of Homeland Security – her first big initiative was an almost-identical ad campaign, starring Kristi Noem, not Donald Trump, telling illegals to leave voluntarily before she comes to get them and throws them out. She then spent almost a quarter of a billion dollars on those ads, created and placed by at least one agency that did not get their contract through competitive bids.T his might fly in a small state like South Dakota, but in the United States? No.

These ads broke several rules.

Rule Number Four: Do NOT come between Trump and a camera.

Rule Number Five: Do NOT allege Trump approved a $220 million ad budget. Hint: He didn’t.

While she did mention Trump in the ads, they didn’t feature him -- or as AT managing editor Andrea Widburg noted here, the hard-working Border Patrol and ICE agents on the job, performing humane work. They featured her. In the world of Trump, this was a big mistake.  At the time, I thought it was a firing mistake.  Now, it appears I was right.

Quick background. I’ve been involved in advertising most of my professional career, starting in 1975. Then, I was on a team headed by the governor of South Carolina. We won an ADDY for a hugely successful international ad campaign.You can see the parallels between Noem and my own experience. But our ads were print ads, the creative didn’t feature any one individual – not even the governor – and the ads were hugely successful.

Later, I did my Masters work in Advertising.  Since then, I’ve had a hand in two additional ADDY awarded campaigns, including scripting an ADDY-winning ad for a Macon, Georgia Hospital’s OB department.  The ad was a rush job. I was assigned the script at 11:00 p.m. while driving across northern Mississippi.  I wrote it, long-hand, at a bar in a Holiday Inn before calling it in, at 11:30 p,m,, to my agency’s senior partner.  He shot it the next morning.  It worked better than we hoped – the ADDY was just the maraschino cherry on top of a hot-fudge sundae.

Along the way, I’ve managed ad budgets as high as $35 million for employers and corporate clients, going back to the start of my career.  However, I was always careful to follow the rules before spending the dollars – especially when they climb into the millions.

While I’ve been involved in advertising since the beginning of my career, and I first got involved in politics while still in school, I’ve always had a passion for writing, especially books. I’ve written 41 published books, of which 19 were ghost-written and published by the client.

My own books include non-fiction, novels – SF and Historical Fiction.They cover all kinds of topics, from hospital marketing to 1,001 Baby Names and What They Need, and in the realm of fiction, from a UFO landing in Kentucky in 1955 to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I’ve also ghosted dozens of speeches, hundreds of blogs and all manner of other kinds of writing.

If you need help with your writing, I’m at [email protected] or 702-561-1167.

Image: Caricature by Donkey Hotey, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0 Deed

SUPPORT AMERICAN THINKER

Now more than ever, the ability to speak our minds is crucial to the republic we cherish. If what you see on American Thinker resonates with you, please consider supporting our work with a donation of as much or as little as you can give. Every dollar contributed helps us pay our staff and keep our ideas heard and our voices strong. Thank you.

© American Thinker