A Donald Trump snub suggests Kristi Noem might have finally pushed him too far.
An Atlantic columnist argued Saturday that the fact that the embattled secretary of the Department of Homeland Security was still in a job after disastrous events involving immigration operations in Minnesota was a testament to the president’s respect for those who show his loyalty.
When high-profile government initiatives fail catastrophically — such as federal immigration agents killing two individuals during enforcement operations in Minnesota — Cabinet officials typically face removal, wrote Mark Leibovich. For much of the week following last Saturday’s killing of Alex Pretti by ICE agents, speculation mounted that Noem would be dismissed from the Trump administration.
But Trump has publicly backed her vehemently, denying that she will be fired and repeating praise for the job she’s done.
A snub on Thursday, however, suggested she may actually be performing a “slow walk down the Cabinet plank,” Leibovich wrote.
Public approval of Trump’s immigration policies has declined substantially and — as the visible face of aggressive Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations — Noem appeared vulnerable to becoming a sacrificial casualty. Trump’s first term established a pattern of rapid Cabinet turnover, with departures including National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Press Secretary Sean Spicer, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
However, Noem retained her position by week’s end, though she remained publicly under scrutiny. This reflects a shift in Trump’s management approach, surrounding himself with those fiercely loyal to him — and rewarding them for it.
However, Noem slipped, Leibovich wrote. “According to an account in Axios, Noem has said,‘Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen [Miller].”
And that comment, translated by many as throwing Trump and his deputy chief of staff under the bus, appeared to turn the tide.
“On Thursday, Trump convened a Cabinet meeting that featured the cringey exercise of top officials taking turns slathering praise upon the boss,” wrote Leibovich.
“This, at the very least, offered Noem the chance to show proof of life, as well as to grovel her way back into the president’s good graces. It also, in theory, allowed Trump the opportunity to toss some much-needed affirmation her way.
But it was not to be. Trump never called on Noem to speak. Like in Minnesota, it can get cold in Washington.”
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