Trump’s Regime Change: Why Did He Fire Cabinet Secretary Kristi Noem, Christened 'ICE Barbie' By American Press?

While US President Donald Trump has been calling for regime change in Iran, it seems that it is the cabinet of POTUS that is undergoing a major renovation, with Secretary of Homeland Security Kriti Noem being the first domino to fall. 

On March 5, Trump fired Noem from her position in the Department of Homeland Security, and announced she will be moving to a new initiative, ‘Shield of Americas’, to act as its special envoy. 

Who is Noem?

Kristi Noem had a long political career before she served as the 8th United States Secretary of Homeland Security after joining President Donald Trump’s cabinet in January 2025.

She was the 33rd Governor of South Dakota and the first woman to hold the post, elected in 2018 on a platform opposing tax increases, government expansion and federal overreach. She was re-elected in 2022 with the largest vote total in the state’s history.

Noem previously represented South Dakota as its lone member in the United States House of Representatives after being elected in 2010. Before entering Congress, she served for several years in the South Dakota Legislature.

Kristi Noem has built her political profile as a staunch supporter of Trump and is known for taking hardline positions on immigration and conservative issues.

She supported Republican efforts to block the Obama administration’s challenge to a controversial Arizona immigration law that expanded police powers to check suspected undocumented migrants, and later supported punitive measures against Democratic-led “sanctuary cities” that limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities during Trump’s first term.

As governor of South Dakota, Noem aligned closely with Trump-style politics, opposing COVID-19 mandates such as mask requirements and business closures. She was also among the earliest Republican governors to endorse Trump for the 2024 United States presidential election, earning praise from him as a “terrific person” and briefly being considered a potential running mate.

On January 25, 2025, she was appointed Secretary of DHS after Alejandro Mayorkas. It must be noted that among the seven who held the position before her, Noem stands out for having no background in law enforcement or legal expertise like her contemporaries. 

In her tenure as Secretary of DHS, she was a Trump hardliner and led the administration's crackdown on immigration, where she was dubbed by the media as ‘ICE Barbie’. 

She led the major ICE deportation efforts that were highly criticised globally for their brutality. For the same, she was summoned to the Senate and House judiciary committee hearings on 3 and 4 March, where Noem was grilled for the ICE raids that led to the shootings of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal agents and her use of government funds for promotional advertisements.

It was shortly after this hearing that Trump announced Noem’s departure from DHS. 

The Departure

The sudden move of Noem was announced by Trump on Truth Social, where he also revealed that Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma would replace her.

Noem "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 posted on social media. "I thank Kristi for her service at 'Homeland.'"

Responding on X, Noem said it was an “honour and privilege” to serve as the 8th Secretary of the United States Department of Homeland Security, thanking Donald Trump for the opportunity.

Announcing her new role as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, Noem said she looks forward to working with Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth to “dismantle cartels” and strengthen U.S. security across the Western Hemisphere.

She highlighted achievements during her tenure, claiming DHS delivered the “most secure border in American history,” helped 3 million illegal immigrants leave the U.S., located 145,000 children, sped up disaster relief, saved $13 billion for taxpayers, and revitalised the United States Coast Guard.

Noem said she will build on the “national security expertise” gained as Homeland Security Secretary, Governor of South Dakota, and a member of the United States House Armed Services Committee.

Experts speculate that the tough questioning Noem faced by the Senate Judiciary Committee was a direct cause for her departure. 

However, a month after Noem was fired, US Attorney General Pam Bondi suffered the same fate as she, too, was removed from Trump’s cabinet this week. It seems that Trump’s call for regime change is no longer limited to Iran, as the media speculates that FBI director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt are next in line to be fired.