President Donald Trump just executed one of the most humiliating internal pivots of his second term, sidelining Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and sending his border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to try to stamp out the political firestorm ignited by the fatal shooting of VA nurse Alex Pretti. The move signals deepening chaos within the administration’s immigration ranks as public outrage mounts and the White House scrambles for control.
Noem, until recently the public face of Trump’s hard-line immigration blitz, has been harshly criticized for her handling of the Minneapolis situation, especially her claim that Pretti was a “domestic terrorist” before video evidence contradicted that narrative. Federal agents tackled Pretti, pepper-sprayed him at close range, and then shot him multiple times, footage that shows him with a phone rather than a weapon. His parents blasted the administration’s response as “reprehensible and disgusting.”
Rather than defend Noem’s narrative, Trump pulled her aside and tapped Tom Homan to take point on de-escalation and negotiations in Minneapolis. In a Truth Social post, Trump touted Homan as someone “tough but fair” whom he trusts to report directly to him.
This is a major slap to Noem’s standing, especially given her past rivalry with Homan. Insiders have long described deep tensions between Noem’s camera-ready, broad-raid approach and Homan’s more targeted enforcement strategy. Her penchant for public spectacle — and her controversial comments about Pretti — have increasingly drawn internal rebukes.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Trump still has “the utmost confidence and trust” in Noem and that she remains in charge of DHS nationwide, but her influence is clearly weakened as Minneapolis erupts in backlash. Leavitt framed Homan’s deployment as a way to “continue having… productive conversations with state and local officials.”
The optics are brutal. Apresident publicly distancing himself from his own DHS chief’s narrative about a U.S. citizen’s death, and a White House scrambling to reframe its messaging after days of national outrage. Meanwhile, Noem’s critics — both inside and outside government — are pouncing. Some officials see her earlier statements as out of step with the evidence now circulating widely online.
The personnel shift comes amid a broader political crisis for the administration’s immigration agenda. Multiple GOP lawmakers have openly questioned the federal operation in Minneapolis, even demanding an immediate withdrawal of ICE agents, while pushback from civil liberties and gun rights advocates continues to grow.
It’s not just external criticism. Trump’s own refusal to back Noem’s characterization of the Pretti shooting — including his refusal in a Wall Street Journal interview to say whether the agent acted appropriately — underscores a White House that’s disavowing its own DHS leader’s instincts.
In essence, Noem’s grotesque symbol of Trump’s deportation zeal has become a liability. And in Minneapolis, where outrage continues to grow over the treatment of residents and use of force by federal agents, Trump has clearly chosen damage control over loyalty.
