Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem did not speak at a Thursday Cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald Trump amid significant fallout from last weekend’s killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti in Minnesota.
Though Trump has publicly expressed confidence in Noem, telling reporters on Tuesday that she would not step down from her post, he dispatched White House border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis earlier this week to take over command of “Operation Metro Surge” and lead conversations with state and local lawmakers.
And at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting, the first of 2026, Noem did not speak. Meanwhile, Minnesota was discussed only once when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. mentioned the state, alongside California, as a core focus of the administration’s efforts to tackle Medicaid and Medicare fraud.
Last year, Trump’s Cabinet meetings routinely ran from two to three hours, as he would go around the table and ask each department boss to explain what they had been working on in recent weeks. But on Thursday, Trump said he was switching up the format.
“I love these people, but there’s a lot of people. It was a little bit on the boring side,” he joked, noting that media outlets accused him of falling asleep while resting his eyes during the marathon meetings in the past. “I love going around the room. But we’re going to pick a few people.”
Noem, notably, was not among the Cabinet members called on by the president to present. Those also not called on included Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRememer, and others. The president also opted, for the first time since reentering office in January, to conclude the Cabinet meeting without fielding any questions from the press.
Senior White House officials discounted Noem’s exclusion from the speaking program on Thursday, telling the Washington Examiner, “You’re reading way too much into this.”
Trump critics have targeted both Noem and Stephen Miller, Trump’s deputy chief of staff and top immigration adviser, in the days following the Pretti killing. Congressional Democrats have said they plan to launch impeachment proceedings against Noem if Trump does not replace her at the Department of Homeland Security.
Homan signaled that tactics would change from those deployed by Miller and Noem during his Thursday morning press conference in Minnesota.
“You can’t fix problems if you don’t have discussions,” he said, noting that the president has “recognized” that ICE must change its operating tactics.
“I didn’t come to Minnesota for photo ops or headlines,” he added.
Homan also outlined on Thursday plans for a gradual “drawdown” of immigration assets in Minnesota, assuming cooperation from state and local players.
The border czar said he planned to stay in Minneapolis to ensure “common sense cooperation” between Minnesota law enforcement and federal officials.
“What we did agree about is not to release public safety risks back in the community,” he said.
The situation underlines a behind-the-scenes power struggle happening among Trump’s top immigration enforcement officials.
The Washington Examiner previously reported that Noem and her top aide, Corey Lewandowski, orchestrated a pressure campaign to oust Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott, while Homan and Miller openly complained for months that DHS’s immigration enforcement operations were not yielding enough deportations.
Both Miller and Noem made inflammatory comments in the immediate aftermath of the Pretti killing, which earned heavy scrutiny in the media. Miller referred to Pretti as an “assassin” who “tried to murder federal agents,” despite clear video evidence that immigration officials first approached him. Noem similarly said during a press conference that Pretti sought to “massacre” federal agents.
However, Noem, whose televised statements drew significant heat over the weekend, used language cleared by Miller and the White House to characterize Pretti’s actions and carrying of a legally registered handgun, Axios reported on Tuesday afternoon.
Noem reportedly told a confidant that “everything [she had] done, [she did] at the direction of the president and Stephen [Miller].” The confidant later relayed the comment to the outlet.
Miller and the White House outright disputed the outlet’s report, saying, “Any early comments made were based on information sent to the White House through CBP.”
Noem and Lewandowski met with Trump in the Oval Office for roughly two hours on Monday evening. White House chief of staff Susie Wiles and press secretary Karolie Leavitt also reportedly sat in on the conversation after Noem requested the sitdown with the president. Miller was not present in the room, but sources close to the president told the Washington Examiner that he “isn’t going anywhere.”
Leavitt additionally told the Washington Examiner, “Miller is one of President Trump’s most trusted and longest-serving aides.”
TRUMP’S IMMIGRATION FOOTING COMES UNSTUCK AS MINNESOTA SHOOTING TURNS INTO ‘OPERATION CLUSTERF***’
“The president loves Stephen,” she said in a statement.
You can watch Trump’s Cabinet meeting in full below.
