The DHS secretary was snubbed amid a backlash over the Minneapolis crackdown.
President Donald Trump gave Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem the cold shoulder as he went around the room touting his top officials on Thursday. The DHS secretary was in attendance for Trump’s Cabinet meeting at the White House, but the president did not call on her to speak or even acknowledge her presence there.
She has been under fire from members of both parties as the administration faces intense fallout after federal agents shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis less than a week ago. President Donald Trump noticeably did not call on or acknowledge Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, pictured looking on silently as others spoke, during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on January 29, 2026.During the roughly 80-minute televised portion of the meeting, Trump called on several Cabinet members to speak. But despite immigration being one of Trump’s top priorities, it barely got a mention during Thursday’s meeting as the public turned on the administration over its crackdown and U.S. citizens being killed by ICE. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., HUD Secretary Scott Turner, Energy Secretary Chris Wright, Small Business Administrator Kelly Loeffler, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth were all called on to speak. Others like Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, and Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins all got shoutouts or were acknowledged in some way.He also invited Vice President JD Vance to say a few words. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem watches fellow Cabinet members speak during their meeting at the White House on January 29, 2026, but she was not called on to give an update on immigration amid the fallout over ICE killing Alex Pretti.While Trump indicated during the meeting that he would not be calling on every Cabinet member to speak, as he has in the past, because the meetings were “boring,” not including Noem or mentioning her in any way stood out, as the administration is up against the ropes because of ICE. Noem is facing calls to resign or face impeachment after she called Pretti a domestic terrorist right after he was killed on Saturday.As tensions escalated on the streets of Minneapolis and Trump’s approval on immigration plummets, the president announced he was sending border czar Tom Homan to Minnesota this week despite publicly insisting he has not soured on his DHS secretary. Trump on Wednesday told reporters that Noem was doing a “very good job” and said she would not step down, but the shake-up of his team in Minneapolis was a stark acknowledgment of the challenges the administration now faced. Republican Senators Thom Tillis and Lisa Murkowski both called for Noem to step down. Other GOP lawmakers have demanded an independent investigation into Pretti’s killing.The White House is also making the rare move to negotiate with Senate Democrats over government funding in a scramble to avoid a partial shutdown in less than 48 hours. Democrats called for the DHS funding to be removed from the larger package and renegotiated in the wake of the latest killing by ICE. On Thursday, Trump indicated they were closing in on a deal, as the vote on the full six-bill package with that funding failed.
Kristi-Noem White-House Cabinet Department-Of-Homeland-Security
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Trump Brutally Fact-Checked to His Face on Gas PricesIt is hard to lie to Americans about something they see every time they go for a drive.
Read more »
Bruce Springsteen sings out against President Trump in 'Streets of Minneapolis'Bruce Springsteen is dedicating his new song to the people of Minneapolis, criticizing President Donald Trump's ongoing immigration enforcement operations in the city.
Read more »
Bruce Springsteen sings out against President Trump in 'Streets of Minneapolis'Bruce Springsteen is dedicating his new song to the people of Minneapolis, criticizing President Donald Trump's ongoing immigration enforcement operations in the city.
Read more »
Inside the Trump White House in the chaotic hours after Alex Pretti's shooting in MinneapolisJonathan Allen is a senior national politics reporter for NBC News.
Read more »
Trump border czar Homan says ICE in Minneapolis will focus on 'targeted' operations, not sweepsTom Homan, newly installed as commander of President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement surge in Minneapolis, said on Thursday that federal agents would focus on 'targeted, strategic enforcement operations.'
Read more »
Why Trump's Attack on Minneapolis Is Also an Attack on Our ElectionsMichael Waldman is President of the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy institute that focuses on improving the systems of democracy and justice.
Read more »