Who is Kristi Noem, Trump’s chosen Secretary of Homeland Security?

In electing South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as his Secretary of Homeland Securityelected president Donald Trump is calling on a staunch loyalist to lead an agency expected to play a central role in his crackdown on immigration.

She will work closely with two immigration hardliners, incoming deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller and administration “border czar” Tom Homan — both early picks who signaled Trump is taking his pledge to carry out mass deportations seriously.

Noem, 52, is a former four-term state lawmaker and congressman who was elected governor of South Dakota in 2018 and re-elected in 2022. Her profile grew during the Covid-19 pandemic, when she rejected mask mandates and social distancing.

But she is perhaps best known nationally for the controversy that followed the publication of an excerpt from her memoir earlier this year, in which she revealed that she had shot and killed a family dog, a 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket. in a gravel pit because the dog was “untrainable” and “dangerous to anyone she came into contact with.”

Facing backlash, Noem defended her actions, writing on

She also retracted a story from the book about a meeting with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, indicating that such a meeting never took place.

It was part of a series of unflattering stories that appeared to have ended hopes that Noem, who was tied with the top choice in a poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February, , asking attendees who they would like to see Trump choose as his successor. running mate, would get the vice presidential nod.

If Noem is confirmed by the Senate to lead the sprawling agency created under President George W. Bush in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, she would be replaced in the South Dakota governor’s office by Lt. Governor Larry Rhoden. a 65-year-old former state lawmaker, until the end of her current term in just over two years.

Noem attended Northern State University but did not graduate, returning home to run her family’s farm in rural Hamlin County, South Dakota, in 1994 – the year her first of three children with her husband Byron were born born.

After four years as a state lawmaker, Noem ousted Democratic Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin in 2010. Eight years later, she defeated Attorney General Marty Jackley in a competitive Republican gubernatorial primary and held off Democratic Sen. Billie Sutton in the general election. win the governorship.

As governor, she opposed the lockdown measures imposed by many other governors during the coronavirus pandemic. She also aggressively courted Trump’s favor, including giving Trump a four-foot replica of his face on Mount Rushmore when he visited the site for a Fourth of July fireworks celebration that Noem had pushed for in 2020.

Instead of running in the Republican Party’s primaries herself, she endorsed Trump in 2023 and joined his successful bid to win his third consecutive Republican presidential nomination.

She also took several anti-immigration measures as governor. She opposed accepting Afghan refugees in 2021 and sent members of the South Dakota National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas.

Noem formed a political action committee early in the 2024 election cycle and regularly traveled to events to support Trump. Seasoned veterans left her office and she replaced them with more controversial aides, including former Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

She has also faced ethics complaints in South Dakota for improperly using her office to help her daughter get a real estate appraiser’s license. And more recently, she was expelled from their land by all nine indigenous tribes in her state over comments made by the governor about tribal leaders focusing more on profiting from drug cartels than their children.

Still, Noem has remained a staunch ally of Trump. In the final weeks of the 2024 campaign, The Atlantic reported that Noem took part in a strategy briefing with Trump, questioning campaign officials’ findings about the state of the race. And she moderated a memorable town hall in October when Trump swayed to music for more than 30 minutes.

Noem was one of the Republicans along with Trump on election night. She told CNN’s Erin Burnett the day after Trump’s victory that he “recognizes that many families came to him during this campaign and told him tragic stories of losing loved ones because of illegal immigrants coming in who were rapists, murderers or terrorists that are dangerous. to this country. And he is focused on making their communities safer.”

“President Trump is focused on dangerous people these days. When I visited him, he focused on making this country safer,” she said.

CNN’s Daniel Strauss, Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes and Kit Maher contributed to this report.

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