Markwayne Mullin, Trump’s Homeland Security Pick, Learned to Spar in Oklahoma

His home improvement radio show had just cut to commercial break when Markwayne Mullin turned to his co-host and told him that he was considering a career change.

It was 2011, there was an open congressional seat in his eastern Oklahoma district, and the state’s Republican Party was asking him to run.

“I said, ‘Don’t get involved,’” recalled Daryl Brown, his friend and fellow D.J., only partly joking. “‘You’re a successful guy, a good guy, and politics will only make things worse.’”

On Thursday, shortly after President Trump nominated Mr. Mullin, 48, to lead the Department of Homeland Security, Mr. Brown said he was glad his erstwhile co-host ignored his advice.

“You just knew he was going places,” Mr. Brown said in a phone interview from Coweta, a suburb outside Tulsa. “I had no idea he was going where he went, but you knew he had great things in store for him.”

Mr. Mullin, a staunch conservative, would go on to win his first congressional race, serve for nearly a decade, and then successfully run in a special election for the Senate.

From the start, he pitched himself as a political outsider. His unpolished demeanor has won him many fans among Mr. Trump’s MAGA base. But it has also led him to run afoul of congressional ethics rules involving his finances. And a high-profile incident in which he nearly got into a fight on the Senate floor has prompted questions about his temperament.

For better or worse, Mr. Mullin has said, his Oklahoma upbringing shaped him. He hails from a rural town of rolling hills in the shadow of the Ozark Mountains, just a few miles from the Arkansas state line. It is Cherokee Nation land, and Mr. Mullin is an enrolled member of the tribe, just the second Cherokee citizen to serve in the Senate.

As a child, Mr. Mullin had clubfoot, wore leg braces and had to undergo several surgeries, he said in a 2019 interview with High Country News. He also worked to manage a speech impediment. “I couldn’t fight with my mouth,” he told the outlet.

Mr. Mullin learned to wrestle instead, and he excelled. He attended college on an athletic scholarship, but dropped out to take over the family plumbing business when his father fell ill.

He was drawn back to organized sparring in his late 20s and had a brief but successful career as a mixed martial arts fighter, claiming a 5-0 record.

“He was dominant, he was strong,” said Bobby Kelley, an M.M.A. fighter who would know: Mr. Mullin beat him with a chokeholdin a 2006 bout that lasted less than a minute.

Mr. Kelley, known as “Huggie Bear” in the cage, was a teenager at the time, just starting out. Mr. Mullin, he remembered, was “one of the best welterweights around” in their Plains region that included parts of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

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Later on, Mr. Mullin returned to college, but never earned his bachelor’s degree. He was the only senator without one in 2023, the year he was sworn in. Before his political career, Mr. Mullin transformed his father’s company, Mr. Brown said, remembering how the business grew from a handful of employees to a fleet of red vans practically overnight.

“I’ve never seen a guy work harder than him,” Mr. Brown said. “Markwayne is full-steam ahead.”

Even when his plumbing company was keeping him busy, Mr. Mullin spent most Saturdays shuttling between two Tulsa radio stations for back-to-back live tapings of his program, “House Talk,” a call-in format modeled on NPR’s “Car Talk.” During the show, Mr. Mullin and a cast of guest co-hosts would field questions from listeners and advise them on D.I.Y. projects.

But “House Talk” was not a lark for him, Mr. Brown, his former on-air partner, recalled. He required everyone he invited on the show to prepare meticulously. His unusual name — which he told Roll Call was a mash-up that paid tribute to two beloved uncles, Mark and Wayne — remained part of the show’s brand for years.

During their time sharing the mic, Mr. Brown said he watched Mr. Mullin find his voice and hone a public personality. Mr. Brown described him as passionate and unafraid to speak his mind.

Mr. Mullin’s supporters have also praised those qualities, but his temper has occasionally been an issue. During a 2023 Senate hearing, Mr. Mullin challenged Sean O’Brien, the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, to a fight after a back-and-forth escalated.

Mr. Mullin stood up at the dais and appeared ready to remove his wedding ring to throw a punch before Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, broke up any possible fisticuffs.

The two have apparently smoothed things over. Mr. O’Brien, who has also embraced Mr. Trump, said in a statement on Friday, referencing the heated words he exchanged with Mr. Mullin: “If anyone is willing to stand their butt up to protect America, it’s Markwayne Mullin.”

Mr. Mullin’s business practices have also drawn scrutiny from congressional ethics watchdogs. His personal fortune has grown during his time in office; in 2022, he reported assets of between about $32 million and $76 million.

And some Native Americans have criticized Mr. Mullin during his career, accusing him of using his heritage for political gain while backing policies that harm Indigenous communities.

Mr. Mullin’s politics are indeed at odds with those of Chuck Hoskin Jr., the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, who is considered a progressive. But in a statement following his nomination on Thursday, Mr. Hoskin congratulated Mr. Mullin, who is also known as an supporter of tribal sovereignty.

“It is deeply encouraging to have someone with a keen understanding of federal Indian policy, law and justice elevated to such a critical leadership role within a powerful federal agency,” Mr. Hoskin said.

If confirmed, Mr. Mullin would become the first Native American to lead the Department of Homeland Security. He has been vocal about his Cherokee identity, promoting the tribe’s language and serving on the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, where he has pledged to “foster economic growth in Indian Country.”

In announcing his pick, it was perhaps unsurprising which pieces of Mr. Mullin’s biography the president chose to highlight first. “A MAGA Warrior, and former undefeated professional MMA fighter,” Mr. Trump wrote on social media.

The president, known for his opposition to diversity initiatives, also acknowledged that Mr. Mullin has been “a fantastic advocate” for tribal communities.

It was too soon to tell whether Mr. Mullin would need to fight — figuratively — for his confirmation. Republicans control the Senate, and that chamber rarely derails the nomination of one of its own.

Mr. Kelley, who has followed the political ascent of his one-time cage opponent, said he thinks Mr. Mullin will “be a great leader” at the Homeland Security Department. But he can’t help hoping for a chance at a rematch, taking on a Cabinet member in a cage.

Maybe, Mr. Kelley suggested, they could face off once more at the White House’s Ultimate Fighting Championship event on July 4. “We both could have that chance at one last glorious moment,” he said.

Sheelagh McNeill contributed research. Jazmine Ulloa contributed reporting.

Reis Thebault is a Phoenix-based reporter for The Times, covering the American Southwest.

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