Trump picks South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to run Homeland Security

South Dakota Republican Gov. Kristi Noem is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to run the federal Department of Homeland Security.

After CNN and other news outlets reported the news early Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the situation, Trump and Noem confirmed the reports Tuesday evening.

Trump issued a statement saying Noem would “guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”

“I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects,” Trump said. “She will be a great part of our mission to Make American Safe Again.”

Trump’s statement included comments from Noem.

“With Donald Trump, we will secure the Border, and restore safety to American communities so that families will again have the opportunity to pursue The American Dream,” Noem said.

Noem, 52, is serving her second four-year term as governor. Term limits prevent her from running again in 2026. She previously served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Noem has been closely associated with Trump since at least 2020, when she convinced the then-president to authorize and speak at a Mount Rushmore fireworks show during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was widely considered to be a potential running mate for Trump in his recent campaign, until last April. That’s when media reports began to emerge about her new book, “No Going Back,” in which she disclosed that she had once fatally shot a hunting dog in anger over its poor performance, and then fatally shot a goat while still angry about the dog.

She also retracted a story in the book about meeting North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un after reports questioning whether the meeting had happened.

Those and other revelations from the book made Noem a figure of ridicule for weeks as she went on a book tour. National television anchors grilled her in interviews, late-night TV hosts mocked her, and she was the butt of jokes and memes on social media.

Yet, several months later, she delivered a televised speech at the Republican National Convention. As Trump continued his campaign, speculation grew that Noem could be considered for a job in his administration.

Jon Schaff, a professor of government at Northern State University in Aberdeen, in northeastern South Dakota, said Noem’s appointment would be the culmination of her yearslong devotion to Trump.

“Trump rewards loyalty, and Kristi Noem has been loyal,” Schaff said.

The president-elect’s choice of Noem to run Homeland Security — which includes the Secret Service — also signals Trump’s high level of trust in her.

“She’s been given a position that deals with a Trump administration priority: the border.” Schaff said. “This is a big, important task. It requires more than photo opportunities and media spots. It takes hard work.”

Trump has also selected Tom Homan as “border czar” for his administration as the president-elect seeks to carry out his campaign commitment of mass deportations of immigrants who lack permanent legal status. Homan is the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the previous Trump administration who backed the controversial “zero tolerance” policy that separated families at the southern border.

Trump taps former acting ICE director as his new ‘border czar’

In his statement Tuesday evening, Trump said Noem would “work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border.”

The Department of Homeland Security’s responsibilities include border and immigration enforcement, disaster response, antiterrorism and cybersecurity. Then-President George W. Bush created the department in 2002 in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Offices under the department’s umbrella include the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Transportation Security Administration, Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Secret Service.

Noem has been a vocal supporter of Trump’s calls to strengthen border security. While serving as governor, she has ordered three National Guard deployments to support border security efforts in Texas and has signed off on several other federally ordered border deployments. She’s also visited the southern border multiple times.

If Noem’s appointment is subjected to Senate confirmation hearings, she could face difficult questioning about the Kim Jong Un anecdote in her book and its retraction, Schaff said. Trump has called for the Senate to recess after he takes office early next year so he can make appointments without going through the confirmation process.

That will be among the first choices facing the next Senate majority leader, who is scheduled to be elected by Republican senators on Wednesday. South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune is among the candidates.

Speculation begins about 2026 governor race

Noem’s appointment as secretary of Homeland Security would elevate Republican Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden to governor for the rest of her term. Meanwhile, a campaign would likely begin for the 2026 Republican gubernatorial nomination, with Republicans including U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson and state Attorney General Marty Jackley among those rumored to be interested in running.

Rhoden did not immediately respond to a message Tuesday from South Dakota Searchlight.

Johnson, who was reelected to the U.S. House last week, told Searchlight in a text message, “I’m not making any political announcements anytime soon.”

Jackley provided Searchlight with a statement: “Right now I’m focused on being the best attorney general I can be for South Dakota and doing the job South Dakotans elected me to do.”

Jackley lost to Noem in the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary election, and she went on to become the state’s first female governor. When Noem ran for reelection in 2022, she beat Democratic nominee Jamie Smith in that year’s general election. He said Tuesday that he’s focused on serving in the state Senate after his election last week from a district in Sioux Falls.

“In our race, we called that she wouldn’t finish her second term, and it turns out we were likely correct,” Smith said.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated since its original publication with additional information.