Trump fires homeland security secretary Kristi Noem

Trump fires homeland security secretary Kristi Noem Markwayne Mullin, Republican senator and Maga ally, to replace Noem as Democrats cheer departure of ‘disaster’ US politics live – latest updates Donald Trump on Thursday announced he was replacing Kristi Noem as the homeland security secretary, capping weeks of bipartisan complaints about her leadership after immigration agents killed two US citizens and reports emerged that she was involved in a personal relationship with a top deputy. Noem’s firing was the first major personnel shake-up of Trump’s second term. The president made it public in a post on Truth Social, in which he said Markwayne Mullin, a Republican Oklahoma senator, would take over from Noem starting on 31 March. Noem, who Trump said “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!)”, would become special envoy for “the Shield of the Americas”, a security initiative Trump said he planned to announce over the weekend. “It’s humbling,” Mullin said to reporters on Thursday. “Because it happened quick, I had to call my dad, and it’s just pretty humbling when you start thinking about it, a little kid from west Oklahoma getting to serve in the president’s cabinet. That is pretty neat.” In a statement on X, Noem thanked Trump for appointing her to the new role, while promoting her record leading the department. News of the firing broke just before she spoke to a group of police officials in Nashville, but Noem did not bring the subject up on stage. Democrats have cheered Noem’s departure, with Hakeem Jeffries, the House minority leader, saying at a press conference: “Good riddance. She was a disaster.” But Jeffries said it would not change Democrats’ stance towards funding the homeland security department. It has been partly shut down since mid-February after Senate Democrats blocked a spending measure because it did not include new rules governing the conduct of immigration agents, which they had been demanding ...