President Trump said Tuesday that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem will remain in her position amid growing calls from lawmakers for her dismissal after her department’s response to the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis protester over the weekend.
“No,” Mr. Trump responded when asked by reporters if Ms. Noem would step down.
“I think she’s doing a very good job,” Mr. Trump said. “The border is totally secure. You forget we had a border that I inherited, where millions of people were coming through. Now we have a border where no one is coming through.”
“People forget as soon as you accomplish something, it goes into history, and no one ever wants to talk about it,” the president continued.
Mr. Trump’s defense of Ms. Noem comes one day after she was at the White House facing questions about her department’s handling of and response to the killing of Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis nurse who was killed by federal agents during a protest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids. It was the second fatal shooting of a protester by federal agents in Minneapolis this month.
Mr. Pretti was protesting ICE activity in the city at the time of the shooting. Federal officials say he was carrying a gun, but there appears to be no evidence that he brandished a gun at ICE agents.
The White House has publicly backed Ms. Noem, but Mr. Trump decided to send border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis to deal with the fallout from Mr. Pretti’s death. Some in the media speculated that sending Mr. Homan to the beleaguered city instead of Ms. Noem is a sign the administration was losing confidence in her.
Democrats have stepped up calls for Ms. Noem’s ousting since Mr. Pretti’s killing, arguing the shooting by ICE agents merits it. They are also threatening to block a measure funding the DHS because it includes money for ICE.
In a post on X, Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, made a direct appeal to Mr. Trump to fire Ms. Noem.
“Americans have died. She is betraying DHS’s core mission and trashing your border security legacy,” Mr. Fetterman wrote.
“DO NOT make the mistake President Biden made for not firing a grossly incompetent DHS Secretary,” he added in reference to Alejandro Mayorkas, who Republicans blame for the large number of border crossings during the Biden administration.
While Mr. Fetterman represents the moderate wing of the Democratic Party, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive from Massachusetts, also joined the chorus for Ms. Noem’s termination.
“Alex Pretti wasn’t a terrorist. He was a VA nurse. When agents pushed a woman to the ground, he tried to help her up. His last words were ‘Are you okay?’ Enough. Kristi Noem should resign,” Ms. Warren wrote on X.
Ms. Noem is scheduled to testify before the Republican-led Senate Judiciary Committee in March.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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