KRISTI Noem is speaking out after being brutally sacked by Donald Trump as Homeland Security chief.

The president announced Thursday afternoon that “highly respected” US Senator Markwayne Mullin will now lead the under-fire department.

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Kristi Noem recently spoke before Congress about ICE operations in MinnesotaCredit: AP
 

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Noem has since been fired as DHS chief but will soon take on a new roleCredit: AFP
 

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Oklahoma Senator Markwayne Mullin will now lead DHSCredit: Getty
Trump announced that Noem would become Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, the administration’s new security initiative.

Noem addressed the firing an hour after the announcement with a post on X thanking Trump for her new appointment.

“In this new role, I will be able to build on the partnerships and national security expertise, I forged over the last 13 months as Secretary of Homeland Security,” she wrote.

The former secretary said she would be working with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “closely to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”

Trump announced the leadership change in a Truth Social post, naming Mullin, a senator from Oklahoma, as Noem’s replacement.

Mullin, the only Native American in the Senate, is expected to take on the role on March 31.

Trump said Noem “served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!), 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.”

Noem appeared before reporters at a previously scheduled event in Nashville soon after Trump’s announcement but did not address her termination and was not asked by the press about it.

Trump told Noem that she was fired on Thursday afternoon before her speech, NBC News reported.

Mullin, a former MMA fighter, told reporters that he “found out just before you guys did,” and added that he and Trump would talk more later Thursday.

He has served 10 years in the US House of Representatives and three years in the Senate.

“It’s pretty humbling when you start thinking about it – a little kid from Oklahoma gets to serve in the president’s cabinet. That’s pretty neat,” Mullin said.

Trump called the congressman a “MAGA Warrior” and said he has “done a tremendous job representing the wonderful People of Oklahoma.”

The president said Mullin will work “tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murders, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scrouge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICAN SAFE AGAIN.”

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt congratulated Mullin on his nomination and said he “will be looking to appoint a strong, small government conservative voice to support President Trump and protect Oklahomans’ way of life.”

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Markwayne Mullin is a former MMA fighter with a 13-year-long career in CongressCredit: Getty
Trump was particularly unhappy about Noem’s response a question about her role in a $220 million ad campaign to encourage immigrants to self-deport, sources told multiple outlets.

Noem told Republican Senator John Kennedy that Trump was aware of the ad buy, which the president denied.

“I never knew anything about it,” Trump told Reuters Thursday.

The secretary faced a grilling from Congress this week over her spending at DHS, as well as ICE’s immigration operation in Minnesota that left two American citizens dead.

The exchange comes after Noem suggested in a Conservative Political Action Conference speech last year that Trump had asked her to create the ad to thank him personally for his work at the border.

“He said, ‘I want the first ad, I want you to thank me. I want you to thank me for closing the border.’ I said, ‘Yes, sir. I will thank you for closing the border,’” Noem said at the time.

Kennedy said the ads put the president in a “terribly awkward spot.”

“It’s just hard for me to believe, knowing the president as I do, that you said, ‘Mr. President, here’s some ads I’ve cut, and I’m going to spend $220 million running them’ that he would have agreed to that,” Kennedy said.

“To me, it puts the president in a terribly awkward spot. I’m not saying you’re not telling the truth.”

Noem testified Tuesday that Trump “tasked” her with creating the ads.

“The president tasked me with getting the message out to the country and to other countries where we were seeing the invasion come from,” Noem said.

“With putting commercials out that told them that if they were in this country illegally, that they needed to leave, or we would detain them and remove them, and they’d not get the chance to come back to America the right way.”

Kennedy told reporters on Thursday that he had spoken with the president about Noem’s testimony.

“The president of the United States called me, and I’m not going to speak for him, folks, but, I would put it this way: his recollection and her recollection are different,” Kennedy said.

“I can assure you, he is not happy with her,” another lawmakers who spoke with Trump this week told NBC.

“She did horrible in the hearings and has made a lot of errors.”

Punchbowl News reported that Trump has been asking lawmakers if he should fire Noem after her performance.

The ad contracts were criticized at the time because they were bought through a process that limited competitive bidding.

The awarded subcontractor was involved in Noem’s 2022 gubernatorial race, and the CEO is married to former DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin.

Top DHS aide Corey Lewandowski, who was accused of having an affair with Noem, also previously worked for the contractor.

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“Secretary Noem serves as the pleasure of the President. She is honored to serve the American people and lead DHS,” a department spokesperson said in response to a question about Trump’s thinking on Noem shortly before her firing.

“Under her leadership, we have the most secure border in American history, 3 million illegal aliens left the United States, and we now have the lowest murder rate in 125 years.”

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Mullin said he found out about his nomination shortly before Trump announced in on Truth SocialCredit: Reuters
 

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Kennedy grilled Noem on her massive ad buy – which she said Trump directed her to doCredit: Getty