Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem has apparently been staging her own parallel government inside the Trump administration, and people inside the White House are annoyed as hell.
According to a new Wall Street Journal report spotlighted by The Daily Beast, Noem has been calling everyday internal briefings with DHS subagency heads “cabinet meetings.” That’s the sort of phrase reserved for presidential transitions or national policy strategy sessions — not routine drills with agency lieutenants. Insiders saw it as a blatant power grab by a secretary openly eyeing a future presidential campaign.
Noem’s obsession with self‑branding — and the optics of leadership — is drawing sharp reactions from within Trump officials. One senior aide told colleagues that the meetings were “fake” and that Noem was essentially playing dress‑up with titles that don’t belong to her office — and the president is noticing.
That’s not the only eyebrow‑raising move she’s made. Noem funneled roughly $200 million from DHS’s budget into a headline‑grabbing ad campaign in which she stars, warning undocumented immigrants to “leave now.” Trump aides were reportedly so irritated they questioned where she got the funding. Some viewed the campaign as less about public safety and more about crafting a presidential resume.
The White House reaction wasn’t subtle. According to sources, aides interpreted the use of “cabinet meetings” for internal briefings as Noem signaling ambitions far beyond her DHS job — and a challenge to the authority of President Trump and his true cabinet.
Of course, as with so much of Noem’s DHS tenure, the chaotic vignette didn’t stop there. The same Journal reporting also detailed how Noem and top adviser Corey Lewandowski — at the center of swirling rumors about their relationship — traveled together on a luxury 737 MAX leased by DHS for so‑called “high‑profile deportations,” complete with a private cabin.
The narrative emerging from the agency is one of self‑serious posturing and questionable priorities: mega‑ad buys that feel political, meetings that feel aspirational, and travel that feels like a campaign trail on wheels. That’s left some within the administration wondering if Noem is running Homeland Security or auditioning for higher office.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson tried to defend the “cabinet” label, saying the gatherings were “DHS component cabinet meetings” and that the ad campaign was coordinated with the White House and “tremendously successful.”
But as Trump aides watch the optics pile up, the reaction is less “success” and more confusion wrapped in ambition. If Noem’s playing a long game for 2028 — or beyond — she’s going about it in ways that are irritating everyone around her, including the president she serves.
