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Kristi Noem was fired on Thursday from the DHS. There was a lot of controversy around her and her decisions. Her management style ultimately became a political liability. She got a lot of backlash on her mass deportation policy. She also drew criticism when she told undocumented immigrants that the federal government was targeting them. Federal judges have said she has defied court orders.

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Kristi Noem's firing Thursday capped a rocky 13-month tenure at the Department of Homeland Security marked by constant controversy and questions about her management style that ultimately became a political liability in the eyes of President Donald Trump.

She drew especially heavy fire over how she carried out his immigration crackdown and mass deportation policy.
Critics call social media posts self-promotion
While the president praised her as a fighter, critics called out her self-promoting social media use, including videos showing her in tactical gear at raids with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents.

Critics also questioned her ride-alongs on those operations, especially since it was later revealed in some cases that the people arrested in the promotional videos were never charged with crimes.

She also drew criticism for appearing in TV, radio and online ads warning undocumented immigrants that the federal government was targeting them for deportation. Other ads offered money to undocumented immigrants to self-deport.

She repeatedly defended herself by contending she and ICE were simply carrying out Trump's agenda to make the country safer.

"These law enforcement officers are out there every day doing the work to protect the American people, and they will keep doing that because they believe in enforcing the law, which is exactly what President Trump has charged them with," Noem told CBS's "Face the Nation" in January.

As she launched Trump's deportation program, Noem was slammed for a March 26, 2025, visit to the  Terrorist Confinement Center, aka CECOT, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, where she posed for a social media post in front of detainees crammed behind bars in a cell behind her.

"They shouldn't be coming here illegally," she told reporters during the visit when asked about the prison conditions.

Courts, Democrats, protesters push back

Federal judges have said Noem and the administration have defied court orders that prohibited the agency from sending undocumented migrants, some of whom DHS admitted did not have criminal records, to CECOT.

Calls for her resignation or removal grew after her agency surged resources into Minneapolis and the shooting deaths there in January of American citizens Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of federal law enforcement and her characterizations of the incidents as "domestic terrorism."

Before now, the president had backed her as she defended ICE agents' and sending migrants to faraway third countries.

On Thursday, the president thanked her for her service at "Homeland" before sending her to a newly created position.

"The current Secretary, Kristi Noem, who has 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," Trump said.

"Thank you @POTUS  Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas," Noem said in an X post shortly after his announcement.
Lightning rod
Trump picked the former South Dakota governor to lead DHS shortly after his election in November 2024.

She quickly became a lighting rod for criticism, continuing right until her fateful appearances this week on Capitol Hill.

In the two days leading up to her firing, Noem clashed with Democrats and some Republicans on the House and Senate Judiciary committees over both her agency stewardship and a $220 million ad campaign her agency commissioned that featured her in prominent roles.

During a Tuesday hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy questioned Noem over the ad contract.

"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," he said.

Noem testified that the president approved.

"The president tasked me with getting the message out to the country," she said.

But Trump privately expressed deep frustration over her testimony, several sources within the administration told ABC News.

A senior administration official told ABC News that Trump did not sign off on the ad campaign.

"Absolutely not," the senior administration official said.

Noem also was asked several times during the hearings about whether she would apologize for her initial comments on the Pretti and Good shootings and she repeatedly declined to do so.
Hiring of Corey Lewandowski
She also has been criticized for her hiring of Corey Lewandowski, Trump's onetime 2016 campaign manager, as a special government employee. Sources have told ABC News that Lewandowski has operated as her de facto chief of staff at DHS despite his status limiting him to 130 days of service.

Democrats in Congress have demanded that Noem give a full accounting of Lewandowski's time at DHS after the Wall Street Journal reported on his conduct at the department and his relationship with the secretary.

"These reports indicate you control the Department with a level of conceit, capriciousness and cruelty rivaling the queen of hearts," Rep. Bennie Thompson, the top Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee wrote to Noem on Feb. 18. "You are unfit to lead, and you should resign immediately."

Noem has not commented on her relationship with Lewandowski. Asked on Feb. 16 about the Wall Street Journal report, Trump said, "I don't know about that. I mean, I haven't heard that. I'll find out about it, but I have not heard that."

Their relationship came up in Wednesday's House Judiciary Committee hearing when Democratic Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove asked Noem if she had "sexual relations" with Lewandowski.

Noem lambasted the congresswoman for "peddling tabloid garbage."

Democratic Rep. Jared Moskowitz also confronted Noem about her relationship with Lewandowski.

"I really think you need to say the word 'no' into the record so that you can clear that up," he said.

Noem did not answer directly.

"You say conservative women are stupid or sluts. I am neither," she snapped back.

Noem has also been criticized for not addressing the needs of other agencies under DHS purview, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

She said she wanted to "eliminate" the agency, which is crucial for disaster relief and assistance. While she fell short of that goal, she severally cut resources and personnel.

Noem backed Trump during his first term and made frequent appearances for his 2024 campaign and was seen as a strong contender for vice president before Trump picked JD Vance.

A spokesperson for Noem was forced to admit what she called "errors" in Noem's 2024 memoir "No Going Back," including a claim that she once met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

That description was removed from subsequent printings of the book, according to the publisher.

Noem also came under fire for revealing in the book that  she shot and killed her 14-month-old dog Cricket because she said it was untrainable and had killed a neighbor's chickens.

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Kristi Noem's ouster follows tumultuous tenure as Homeland Security secretary

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Kristi Noem's firing capped a rocky 13-month tenure at the Department of Homeland Security marked by constant controversy and questions about her management style.

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Climate breakdown is occurring more rapidly, with the heating rate almost doubling, according to research that excludes the effect of natural factors behind the latest scorching temperatures.

It found global heating accelerated from a steady rate of less than 0.2 °C per decade between 1970 and 2015 to about 0.35 °C per decade over the past 10 years. The rate is higher than scientists have seen since they started systematically taking the Earth’s temperature in 1880.

“If the warming rate of the past 10 years continues, it would lead to a long-term exceedance of the 1.5 °C (2.7F) limit of the Paris agreement before 2030,” said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-author of the study.

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Humanity is heating the planet faster than ever before, a study has found.

Climate breakdown is occurring more rapidly with the heating rate almost doubling, according to research that excludes the effect of natural factors behind the latest scorching temperatures.

It found global heating accelerated from a steady rate of less than 0.2C per decade between 1970 and 2015 to about 0.35C per decade over the past 10 years. The rate is higher than scientists have seen since they started systematically taking the Earth's temperature in 1880.

"If the warming rate of the past 10 years continues, it would lead to a long-term exceedance of the 1.5C (2.7F) limit of the Paris agreement before 2030," said Stefan Rahmstorf, a scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and co-author of the study.

Extreme heat in recent years has been pushed higher by natural fluctuations - such as solar cycles, volcanic eruptions, and the weather pattern El Niño - that have led scientists to question whether startling temperature readings are outliers or the result of an increase in global heating.

The researchers applied a noise-reduction method to filter out the estimated effect of nonhuman factors in five major datasets that scientists have compiled to gauge the Earth's temperature. In each of them, they found an acceleration in global heating emerged in 2013 or 2014.

"There is now pretty widespread - if not quite universal - agreement that there has been a detectable acceleration in warming in recent years," said Zeke Hausfather, a climate scientist at Berkeley Earth, who was not involved in the study. "However, it remains unclear how much of the additional warming over the past decade in particular is a forced response versus unforced variability."

The blanket of carbon pollution smothering the Earth has heated the planet by about 1.4C since preindustrial levels, compounded by a recent drop in cooling sulphur pollutants that had provided temporary relief. A study Hausfather co-authored last year also found climate breakdown has speeded up, but had the rate slightly slower than the new study, at 0.27C a decade.

"Either way, this represents a significant increase in the rate of warming," said Hausfather. "[This] should be worrying as the world hurtles toward crossing 1.5C later this decade."

The researchers said the acceleration fell within the scope of climate models. Based on temperatures from one of the datasets analysed, supplied by the EU's Copernicus service, the world will cross the 1.5C threshold for long-term warming this year if the rate of warming does not slow. Analysis of the other four datasets showed a breach in 2028 or 2029.

Claudie Beaulieu, a climate scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz, said the findings imply that the window for limiting warming even to 2C above preindustrial levels would "narrow substantially" if faster warming persists.

"An important caveat, however, is that the acceleration may prove temporary," said Beaulieu, who has published on the topic but was not involved in the new study. She added that the strong El Niño of 1998 also produced a period of apparent anomalous warming.

"The relative slowdown that followed was interpreted as evidence of a pause in global warming," she said. "Continued monitoring over the next several years will be essential to determine whether the accelerated warming rate identified here represents a lasting shift or a transient feature of natural variability."

Climate scientists suspect global heating of 1.5C-2C may be enough to trigger near-apocalyptic "tipping points" that play out over decades and centuries, with the chances of catastrophe increasing at higher levels of warming. They are more confident about the damage climate breakdown will do in the short-term, such as making heatwaves hotter and allowing storms to unleash more rain.

The past three years have been the hottest three-year period on record, the World Meteorological Organization confirmed in January. Scientists have continued to log record-breaking levels of planet-heating pollution while raising fears that the planet's carbon sinks - natural systems that remove CO ₂ from the atmosphere - may be starting to fail.

"How quickly the Earth continues to warm ultimately depends on how rapidly we reduce global CO ₂ emissions from fossil fuels to zero," said Rahmstorf.

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Humanity heating planet faster than ever before, study finds

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Researchers identify sharp rise to about 0.35C every decade, after excluding natural fluctuations such as El Niño

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It's the 6th day of Iran attacking other countries. They attacked Israel on Thursday night and Israel is having an emergency evacuation everywhere.

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Jessie Yeung, Billy Stockwell, Max Saltman

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Everything we know on the sixth day of the US and Israel’s war with Iran | CNN

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As it enters its sixth day, the latest Middle East conflict continues to widen – with the US sinking an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka and Iran attacking Azerbaijan, local authorities said, in the first strikes on the country since the beginning of the conflict.

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On Wednesday, two women were found dead on a hiking trail. The Wayne County PD found shotgun shells and various bullet casings. Further upon their investigation, they found a third victim. They arrested the suspect in a stolen vehicle. Ivan Miller was the suspect who was brought into custody on Thursday.

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3 women are found dead in rural Utah as a manhunt sparks school closures and business shutdowns | CNN

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The grisly discoveries of three bodies in south central Utah have spurred a multi-county manhunt, prompting schools to shut down and businesses to shutter while an unknown killer is on the loose.

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Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to California Highway Patrol.

Booking information available online shows that the pop superstar was stopped by CHP officers around 9:30 p.m. and booked shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday. She was later released.

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Britney Spears arrested for DUI in California | CNN

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"Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney's life," a representative for Britney Spears said.

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Gas prices and taxes are still rising. Jobs are going down. The U.S. economy lost jobs in February, marking a major reversal of fortunes for the labor market and nearly erasing all of the job gains delivered a month earlier, government data on Friday showed. The reading came in well below economists' expectations.

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Jobs report shows US unexpectedly lost jobs in February

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The U.S. lost jobs in February, marking a reversal of fortunes for the labor market and nearly erasing all of the job gains delivered in January, data on Friday showed.

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President Donald Trump told CNN Friday morning that Cuba “is going to fall pretty soon.” trump says “Cuba is gonna fall pretty soon, by the way, unrelated, but Cuba is gonna fall too. They want to make a deal so badly,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash in a phone interview when touting US military success in his second term.

“They want to make a deal, and so I’m going to put Marco (Rubio) over there and we’ll see how that works out. We’re really focused on this one right now. We’ve got plenty of time, but Cuba’s ready — after 50 years,” he added, explaining that Iran is the current priority.

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Trump tells CNN Cuba is soon going to fall: ‘We’re really focused on this one right now’ | CNN Politics

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President Donald Trump told CNN Friday morning that Cuba “is going to fall pretty soon.”

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Lou Holtz, college football staple who coached Notre Dame to 1988 national title, dies at 89. never met an opponent that couldn’t beat him. Somehow, he squeaked out nearly 250 wins and a national title

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Lou Holtz, college football staple who coached Notre Dame to 1988 national title, dies at 89 | CNN

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Lou Holtz, the College Football Hall of Fame coach who led Notre Dame to the 1988 national championship and won 249 games over 33 seasons at six schools, has died. He was 89.

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Paris Saint-Germain and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi has been ordered to stand trial in a 🤬 case, lawyers told the Associated Press on Tuesday.

Hakimi’s lawyer Fanny Colin said she will appeal the judge’s decision that followed recommendations from the Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, which last August called for the player to stand trial.

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For the past week, Israel has unleasheda furious assault across Lebanon and Iran, targeting a militant group. The US and Iran are going back and forth with explosive missiles, and people are thinking that world war 3 is going to start. while some aren't taking the war seriously at all.

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As Iran war rages, Israel seizes chance to finish the job against Hezbollah | CNN

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For the past seven days, Israel has unleashed a furious assault across Lebanon, targeting the militant group Hezbollah from Tripoli in the far north to the villages along the country's southern border.

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Global warming has accelerated “significantly” over the past 10 years, meaning the world may barrel through crucial global warming limits faster than expected, according to the study published Friday in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

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Scientists are trying to solve the mystery of whether global warming is speeding up. A new study says it has the answer | CNN

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Is the world getting hotter, faster? It’s a big question which has been puzzling and dividing scientists for years. A new paper says it has the answer, and it’s not good news.

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Rondale Moore, an NFL receiver who had season-ending training camp knee injuries in each of the last two years after a standout college career at Purdue and a promising start with the Arizona Cardinals, was found dead Saturday, authorities said. He was 25. Police said Moore died of a suspected self-inflicted gunshot wound. Moore was found dead in the garage of a property in his hometown of New Albany, police chief Todd Bailey said. The death remains under investigation.

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NFL receiver Rondale Moore found dead in his Indiana hometown | CNN

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Rondale Moore, an NFL receiver who had season-ending training camp knee injuries in each of the last two years after a standout college career at Purdue and a promising start with the Arizona Cardinals, was found dead Saturday, authorities said. He was 25.

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President Donald Trump told CNN Friday morning that Cuba “is going to fall pretty soon,” he told CNN’s Dana Bash in a phone interview when the US military succeeds in his second term.

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Trump tells CNN Cuba is soon going to fall: ‘We’re really focused on this one right now’ | CNN Politics

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President Donald Trump told CNN Friday morning that Cuba “is going to fall pretty soon.”

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Trae Young got ejected before even stepping on the court for his new team the Washington Wizards. Trae Young was traded by the Atlanta Hawks to the Wizards in early January. Trae Young was ejected because he left the bench to protest a non-call against Tari Eason.

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Trae Young has managed to earn an ejection before even stepping on the court for his new team.

The four-time NBA All-Star guard, who was acquired by the Washington Wizards from the Atlanta Hawks in early January, is not set to make his debut for the Wizards on Thursday night against the Utah Jazz. However, he still found a way to be ejected for leaving the bench area in Washington's 123-118 loss at home to the Houston Rockets.

In the third quarter of that game, Young stepped on to the court on Monday to protest a non-call against Tari Eason and was issued a technical foul and ejection. Eason was also ejected.

Young later joked about the incident on social media. "Don't expect me to get ejected too many more times D.C.😂 .. but I'm definitely bringing that energy & competitiveness when I'm back for my brothers!" he wrote in a post on X.

Young has been nursing MCL and quad injuries, and has not played since the end of December. Young announced on social media earlier on Monday that he was targeting Thursday for his return.

The Wizards have been one of the worst teams in the NBA over the last decade, reaching the playoffs just once in the last seven seasons. They hope the recent arrivals of Young, who averages 25.2 points per game over his career, and 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis will revive their fortunes, alongside a glut of young talent acquired through the draft thanks to those bad seasons. Davis has been out since January with a hand injury.

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Trae Young gets ejected before even making his Washington Wizards debut

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Trae Young has managed to earn an ejection before stepping on the court for his new team

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Russia is providing Iran with intelligence about the locations and movements of American troops, ships and aircraft, according to multiple people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue, the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war.

Much of the intelligence Russia has shared with Iran has been imagery from Moscow’s sophisticated constellation of overhead satellites, one of the people said. It is not clear what Russia is getting in return for the assistance.

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Natasha Bertrand, Jim Sciutto, Zachary Cohen, Jennifer Hansler

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Russia is aiding Iran’s war effort by providing intel on US military targets, sources say | CNN Politics

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Russia is providing Iran with intelligence about the locations and movements of American troops, ships and aircraft, according to multiple people familiar with US intelligence reporting on the issue, the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war.

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Britney Spears was arrested Wednesday night on suspicion of driving under the influence, according to California Highway Patrol.

Booking information available online shows that the pop superstar was stopped by CHP officers around 9:30 p.m. and booked shortly after 3 a.m. Thursday. She was later released.

CHP public information officer Ryan Ayers confirmed to CNN via phone on Thursday morning that Spears was arrested on suspicion of DUI.

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Britney Spears arrested for DUI in California | CNN

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"Britney is going to take the right steps and comply with the law and hopefully this can be the first step in long overdue change that needs to occur in Britney's life," a representative for Britney Spears said.

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The US lost 92,000 jobs in February, an unexpected major slackening in the labor market that came just before Donald Trump threw the global economy into upheaval with his conflict in Iran.

The unemployment rate edged up to 4.4% in February. In comparison, the US added a revised 126,000 jobs in January, far surpassing expectations of 70,000 jobs but still less than January 2025. Economists predicted an increase of 60,000 jobs added in February and a steady unemployment rate of 4.3%.

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US lost 92,000 jobs in February just before Trump joined Iran conflict

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The unemployment rate was 4.4% in February, with 130,000 jobs added in January