Donald Trump chose Markwayne Mullin as his new homeland security chief after watching him over and over on Fox News—in interviews strewn with flubs and gaffes about the war with Iran.
The 48-year-old senator was tapped late Thursday to replace Kristi Noem after her litany of errors finally forced the president’s hand and she found herself in the newly made-up role of Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas. Noem becomes the first Cabinet member fired in Trump’s second administration.
Trump is known to be a near-constant viewer of Fox News, and according to CNN’s White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, “loves watching Mullin on TV and often praises him, which was a factor in this decision.”
A member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, the senator from Oklahoma has been a regular fixture on the nation’s screens this week. He’s testified about the smell of war despite never having served, celebrated the liberation of the people of Iraq after Trump attacked Iran, and called Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth “President Hegseth.” Twice.
Trump, however, is picking up what the three-time-undefeated mixed martial arts fighter is putting down, saying on Truth Social last night that “highly respected” “Markwayne has done a tremendous job representing the wonderful People of Oklahoma,” and “knows the wisdom and courage required to advance our America First Agenda.”
Meet the new Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin: pic.twitter.com/ZbAOMHK0j3
— Home of the Brave (@OfTheBraveUSA) March 5, 2026
But just this week, Mullin, whom Trump called a “MAGA warrior,” has endured not one but three live-on-air blunders.
On Monday, he appeared on Fox Business, charged with talking up the benefits of the attack on Iran. One of the major arguments in favor of doing so has been to bring an end to the authoritarian Islamic Revolution. It has been in power since 1979 and, in January, is feared to have slaughtered tens of thousands of protestors.
“It’s up to the Iraqi people or, I’m sorry, the Iranian people to choose their next go—their next leader,” Mullin fumbled. “It’s up to them to rise up and kick this regime out of place. If they do not, then they will be with a different leader, but the same regime.”
The next day, he was back on the nation’s screens, this time on Fox News, espousing the virtues of Hegseth and talking up the former National Guardsman’s warfighting credentials.
He talked about the value of experiencing the horrors of war, something he is unlikely to know anything about personally, having no military service on his CV.
That didn’t stop him getting poetic about them anyway, saying, “War is ugly, it smells bad, and if anybody’s ever been there and, been able to smell the war that’s happened around you and taste it and fill it in your nostrils and hear it, it’s something that you’ll never forget, and it’s ugly.”
He added, “And fortunately, you have President Hegseth—or I say President Hegseth—Secretary Hegseth, that has got a great relationship with President Trump, and President Hegseth’s been there. He’s done that.”
Later on Tuesday, the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee found himself tangled in yet another net, as he described the fight with Iran as a “war,” despite Congress not having declared one.
“This is war, and we’re taking out the threat,” he said in the U.S. Capitol when asked if further Iranian officials were in peril after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed. “And if you’re part of the threat, then you’re a target.”
Reporters leapt on him, asking him if he conceded that it was in fact a “war.”
“We haven’t declared war,” Mullin backpeddled. “They declared war on us, but we haven’t… We haven’t declared it.”
“They’ve called it war. What I’m saying—”
A reporter then reminded him he had called it a war seconds earlier.
“OK, well, that was a misspoke,” Mullin said. “What I was saying that they’ve declared war on us. But war is ugly. It always has been ugly. But we’re, you know, we’re taking out a regime that’s been trying to attack us for quite some time.”
Noem is leaving the Department of Homeland Security after overseeing Trump’s mass deportation program, which involved ICE and Border Patrol agents swarming Democrat-run cities across the country and removing thousands to deportation facilities.
Her anti-immigration surge in Minnesota became a flashpoint in January, when two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were shot and killed by federal agents.
Noem, nicknamed ICE Barbie for her love of cosplaying in uniform, also reportedly infuriated Trump by commissioning a $220 million advertising campaign in which her face featured heavily.
Things came to a head when she endured a two-day grilling before Congress this week, in which she was grilled about her alleged affair with her top aide, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Mullin is due to take over the post on March 31.
The Daily Beast has contacted Mullin’s representative for comment.
The post New DHS Goon Won Trump Over with Error-Strewn TV Appearances appeared first on The Daily Beast.
