Kristi Noem endured the blunt reality that she, too, was not immune from being terminated. President Trump gave Noem her walking papers when he dismissed her from her position as Secretary of Homeland Security. She was the first cabinet member fired in Trump’s second term, in direct contrast to the routine dismissals of cabinet officials that occurred in his first administration. As was the case with most Trump administration officials, she had assumed that unalloyed loyalty to the president would make her impervious to any consequences for her performance. Let’s cut to the chase. From the outset, Noem was in over her head. She is hardly the only Trump administration official to fit this category. Her record as a state representative and governor of South Dakota was mundane and unremarkable despite her being elected as the state’s first female governor.

Desperate for attention, Noem craved being at the center of any situation. Rather than advance Trump’s definitive political issue, she turned immigration enforcement into a significant political liability. After her deplorable and pathetic performance before Congress last week, it was clear that Trump had had enough and decided that she had to go. Noem was insultingly performative, evident in the flashy attire she occasionally adorned for the cameras when she joined agents on immigration raids.

The former secretary arrogantly posed in front of a group of shirtless, tattooed men behind bars during a visit to a notorious El Salvador prison where the Trump administration sent people accused of being violent gang members, rapists, and murderers. Additionally, she derisively referred to immigrants convicted of crimes as “scumbags.” Just as disturbing, during her tenure as Homeland Security secretary, horrid levels of terror occurred when masked immigration agents randomly unleashed wanton violence against individuals and businesses in cities such as Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington, DC, in a grotesque effort to harass and target potential immigration offenders. Initially, Trump did not react, supporting the ruthless approach. Noem was out of control. The crackdown exploded in Minneapolis with rampant and ruthless raids and releasing teargas in the streets. Being the savvy media connoisseur he is, Trump was astute to how adversely such gut-wrenching drama affected the ratings for television, his major weapon.

Noem despicably stated that Renee Good and Alex Pretti, US citizens whom federal immigration agents fatally shot in Minneapolis, had committed “domestic terrorism,” an irrational assertion that irrefutable video evidence obliterated. Soon afterwards, Trump replaced Greg Bovino, the originator of the debacle who reported directly to Noem, and replaced him with border czar Tom Homan, with whom Noem had an antagonistic relationship. Her spending habits riled many people across the political spectrum. Noem faced fierce criticism for the DHS’s spending of billions of dollars allocated by Congress - including her purchase of two Gulfstream G700 luxury jets for almost $200 million during a government shutdown - and over the snail’s pace of emergency funding ratified through FEMA for disaster response.

In addition to engaging in excessive spending and promoting herself as a heartless law enforcer, the former homeland security secretary had no compunction about living luxuriously, lavish and large. Her department leased an opulent plane with a queen bed, a kitchen, four televisions, and a bar. The official explanation was that the vehicle “will serve dual missions - both as ICE deportation flights and for cabinet level travel,” a dubious expenditure for a department that seemingly took perverse pleasure in torturing and terrorizing detainees.

Her public personal scandals included long-running gossip of an extramarital affair with former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, (talk about a bad kept secret) who was also dismissed. The story of a coast guard pilot allegedly being dismissed because one of Noem’s personal blankets was accidentally left behind on another plane, only to be reinstated because no one else was available to fly the plane, was another example of her disturbingly uncontrolled prima donna antics and untoward behavior. Such nonsense came to a head when Noem endured a two-day grilling on Capitol Hill and was subjected to rare yet intense criticism from both Democrats and Republicans. One particular point of contention was a $220 million ad campaign that included a scene of Noem riding horseback at Mount Rushmore in her native South Dakota. Noem told members of Congress that President Trump had been aware of the campaign in advance, but Trump denied it. “I never knew anything about it,” he responded.

That was apparently the straw that broke the camel’s back. Trump was apparently extremely upset by Noem’s deceptive response and consulted Republicans on Trump or make him look bad! Period! Soon after, he announced on social media that Noem would become special envoy for the Shield of the Americas while Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) would take over at DHS. Mullin is an ardent Trump and MAGA movement supporter.

Many will no doubt declare Kristi Noem probably the most incompetent Homeland Security secretary in American history. Along with other members of the administration, she denounced, demonized, terrorized, abused, and mistreated immigrants and inflicted abject harm by targeting noncriminal, hardworking immigrants and families. The number of deaths in immigration detention rose to a two-decade high during her tenure while personnel in DHS oversight offices were brutally reduced. Former Trump administration member turned critic Miles Taylor, who was chief of staff at the DHS during Trump’s first term, posted on X: “Kristi Noem will be remembered for treating the American people like she treated her dogs.” Taylor may be correct. It is a sad state of affairs.