After backlash, Trump fires Noem from DHS, makes her envoy to new Americas initiative

Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald on Mar 5, 2026

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President Donald Trump announced Thursday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will step down from her position to become special envoy for a new regional security initiative called the “Shield of the Americas,” a program aimed at strengthening security cooperation across the Western Hemisphere.

Noem’s reassignment comes after mounting political pressure in Washington over her response to a controversial immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that ended with federal agents fatally shooting two U.S. citizens.

The announcement, made in a post on Trump’s Truth Social platform, comes just days before a summit in Doral, where the president is expected to unveil the initiative alongside several Latin American leaders.

“Kristi Noem, who has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), will be moving to be Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas, our new Security Initiative in the Western Hemisphere we are announcing on Saturday in Doral, Florida,” Trump wrote. “I thank Kristi for her service at ‘Homeland.’”

The “Shield of the Americas” initiative is designed to promote closer coordination between the United States and countries across Latin America and the Caribbean to confront transnational threats, including drug trafficking, organized crime and irregular migration.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that the summit aims to promote “freedom, security and prosperity in our region” and described the gathering as a historic effort to build a regional coalition.

“These countries have really formed a historic coalition to work together to address criminal narco-terrorist gangs and cartels and counter illegal and mass migration into not only the United States but the Western Hemisphere,” Leavitt said.

Leaders from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago are expected to attend the meeting, according to the White House. Paraguayan President Santiago Peña publicly confirmed the invitation earlier this week on social media.

Trump also announced that U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma will replace Noem as secretary of Homeland Security at the end of the month. In his Truth Social post, Trump praised Mullin — a former mixed martial arts fighter and the only Native American currently serving in the Senate — as a “MAGA Warrior” who would work to secure the border and combat drug trafficking and migrant crime.

Noem’s departure follows weeks of intense scrutiny over her handling of a controversial federal immigration enforcement operation in Minnesota that ended with the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens by federal agents.

The former South Dakota governor faced bipartisan criticism after she publicly described the victims as “domestic terrorists” without presenting evidence, a claim she refused to retract during a tense congressional hearing earlier this week.

During the hearing on Capitol Hill, Noem defended the administration’s aggressive deportation policies and blamed protesters for unrest that followed the raids. Her remarks drew sharp criticism from Democratic senators and from Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, who called on her to resign.

Tillis also referenced a widely criticized episode from Noem’s memoir in which she recounted killing her dog and a goat on her farm — a passage that sparked national controversy when the book was released.

The White House did not directly address whether the criticism played a role in Noem’s reassignment, presenting the move instead as part of a broader regional security strategy ahead of the upcoming summit.

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