Kristi Noem is the head of the US Department of Homeland Security.Image: keystone
analysis
Kristi Noem, the head of the US Department of Homeland Security, is also known as ICE Barbie. Rightly so.
Feb 16, 2026, 4:13 p.mFeb 16, 2026, 5:07 p.m
The Wall Street Journal recently published an almost unbelievable story. The focus is on Kristi Noem, the head of the Department for Homeland Security (DHS), and she goes as follows:
Noem was traveling on a government jet with her advisor Corey Lewandowski. Due to a technical defect, the aircraft had to land and be replaced by another one. During this change, the pilot forgot to transfer a blanket for Noem. The minister therefore fired him on the spot and ordered him to travel home on a scheduled flight. But before he could do so, he was whistled back and reinstated. It turned out there was no replacement for him.
This incident shows that this woman is not only evil, but also very stupid. Therefore the question arises: How could she become a minister in the first place?
Donald Trump also wants to be immortalized on Mount Rushmore.Image: keystone
Noem launched her political career as governor of South Dakota, one of the smallest but also most conservative states in the USA in terms of population. Even back then, she was a loyal supporter of Trump, and even offered the president the prospect of literally having him carved in stone at Mount Rushmore alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
In order to impress Trump, she also described an incident in her biography that made her a national figure: Because a young dog didn’t want to obey her, she shot him dead with her own hands. She wanted to prove to the president how tough she can take action and is therefore suitable for the office of vice president. It wasn’t enough, but being head of the DHS is a consolation prize that shouldn’t be sneezed at.
The fact that Noem is not remotely competent for this office and that even Steve Bannon, for example, was horrified by the election left Trump cold. Finally, the woman immediately proved her reputation. Under her leadership, the ICE border protection police were not only massively expanded, but also transformed into a brutal thugs.
Videos showing women being dragged through the streets by their hair or 5-year-old children being used as decoys soon appeared on social media with the aim of encouraging illegal immigrants to return home voluntarily.
Kristi Noem poses in front of prisoners in El Salvador.Image: keystone
The minister herself did everything to promote her tough image: she had herself photographed in a horror prison in El Salvador in front of shaved-headed, deported young men, also with semi-automatic rifles or in a cowboy hat and on horseback. This gave her the nickname ICE-Barbie.
Noem is supported by Corey Lewandowski, officially her advisor and unofficially her lover. He is a long-time Trump friend and was briefly his campaign manager before he was replaced due to incompetence. Lewandowski is a rude boor – and proud of it. Together with Noem, he forms a duo that spreads fear and terror throughout DHS.
In addition to the already mentioned incident with the pilot, the “Wall Street Journal” lists the following examples:
- Recalcitrant employees, such as Rodney Scott, the border guard officer, are sidelined. In general, employees are tested for their loyalty using lie detectors. The duel that Noem has with Tom Homan is also bizarre. She has ordered that she must appear on TV more often than the border tsar.
- Noem and Lewandowski are having a good time. They mainly travel in a Boeing 737 Max, into which they had a private cabin installed. This jet would actually be intended for deportation in special cases or for VIP transport.
- There is also a justified suspicion of corruption. A $200 million advertising campaign was awarded without a tender to an agency close to Noem. Any amount over $100,000 must also be personally approved by the minister. This particularly affects the funds of the emergency aid organization Fema, and opens the door to misuse.
- The two of them’s desire for recognition knows no bounds. Lewandowski demanded that he receive a police weapon and badge, even though he is not trained to do so. When the responsible lawyer refused him this, he was fired. Finally, the approval had to be signed by an Autopen, a piece of software.
However, Noem overdid it when it came to harshness. After the murder of two innocent citizens in Minneapolis, the mood in the population has changed. More than 60 percent of Americans now disapprove of the actions of the ICE force.
Flegel: Corey Lewandowski.Image: keystone
The Democrats are taking advantage of this. They refused to include a supplementary loan in the budget and thereby forced another partial government shutdown. DHS and Transportation Department employees will no longer receive wages until further notice unless ICE employees, like all other police officers, are equipped with body cameras, are no longer allowed to wear masks and are required to identify themselves.
The Democrats have a good chance of winning this power struggle. They are also openly calling for Noem to resign. Individual Republicans also want them gone. No success for the time being: Trump says she is doing “a fantastic job.”
In the president’s eyes, Pam Bondi is also doing a fantastic job. The Minister of Justice not only completely screwed up the Epstein affair, she also made an embarrassing appearance at a hearing before the House of Representatives last week. The Justice Minister herself refused to look the victims of the Epstein affair in the eyes.
Just embarrassing: Justice Minister Pam Bondi.Image: reuters
“Bondi’s performance was more than political theater,” comments the New York Times. “It was the final humiliation in a trial in which the Epstein victims are being humiliated once again.”
And while we’re on the subject of clumsy behavior in the Epstein affair: Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick also had a pathetic performance. A few months ago he had grandly declared that he had only seen the pedophile sex criminal once and then turned away from him in disgust. After another batch of the Epstein files was published, he had to sheepishly admit that he had not only been in email communication with him, but had even visited him on his infamous island in the Caribbean.
And since we are talking about incompetent behavior by members of the Trump Cabinet, another incident should be mentioned. It concerns Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, took place at the El Paso airport in Texas and goes like this:
The Pentagon has developed a new laser cannon. The Border Patrol wanted to use this weapon against drones used by the Mexican mafia to smuggle drugs. However, this requires approval from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) because it must be ensured that there is no danger to the numerous civil jets that are in this airspace.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.Image: keystone
However, they wanted to avoid the bureaucratic hassle with the FAA. The new miracle weapon was used with great success: it was actually possible to shoot down a harmless aluminum party balloon with the modern hi-tech weapon.
Alarmed by this incident, the FAA immediately closed the airspace over the Texas-Mexico border. It was only after seven days that this ban was lifted at the behest of Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. Now Hegseth and Duffy, both former Fox News anchors, are blaming each other for being to blame for this extremely embarrassing incident.
The mixture of malice and stupidity in the Trump administration leaves mixed feelings: the brutality is disgusting. At the same time, the palpable incompetence fuels hope that these people are simply incapable of unhinging American democracy.
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