The many controversies of Kristi Noem, Donald Trump's pick for homeland security secretary

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to be his Secretary of Homeland Security.

Noem, once seen as a possible running mate for Republican Trump, is currently serving her second four-year term as South Dakota’s governor after a landslide re-election victory in 2022.

The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for everything from border protection and immigration to disaster response and the US Secret Service.

The development comes a day after Trump appointed Tom Homan as his administration’s incoming “border czar”. Homan said he will prioritize deporting illegal immigrants who pose threats to public safety and national security.

Sources on Monday said that Trump was expected to tap Senator Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state.

Noem is seen by many as a polarising figure.

But what do we know about her many controversies?

Let’s take a closer look:

Shooting dog

Noem faced widespread backlash in April when she wrote in a memoir that she shot to death an “untrainable” dog that she “hated” on her family farm.

Noem in the book entitled No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward described how she killed a 14-month-old dog named Cricket and buried the animal in a gravel pit.

She also described about how she killed a goat.

Noem defended her actions, telling Fox News the dog was “very aggressive,” that the animal “massacred” a local family’s chickens and even attacked her.

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“Dogs that have this kind of a problem, that have been to training for months and still kill for fun, they are extremely dangerous and a responsible owner does what they need to do and what the law will allow,” Noem was quoted as saying.

Noem tried to use the story to paint herself as someone who would have the courage to do the right thing.

“What the point of the story is, is that most politicians, they will run from the truth,” Noem said. “They will shy away and hide from making tough decisions. I don’t do either of those.”

Noem also responded to the report with the revelation that she had recently “put down three horses”.

“We love animals,” Noem said as per The Guardian. “But tough decisions like this happen all the time on a farm. Sadly, we just had to put down three horses a few weeks ago that had been in our family for 25 years.”

Some Trump advisers said they believed Noem’s stock fell in the former president’s eyes after that, at a time when she was still a vice presidential contender.

The meeting that wasn’t

Noem in her book also claimed she met North Korea’s Kim Jong Un as part of the US House Armed Services Committee.

According to The New York Times, Noem wrote: “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all). Dealing with foreign leaders takes resolve, preparation, and determination.”

She also wrote that she was going to meet France’s Emmanuel Macron before the meeting was cancelled. However, the newspaper The Dakota Scout published a piece saying that Noem never met Kim – nor did she have a meeting with Macron on the books.

“It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book ‘No Going Back’ has two small errors. This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor. Kim Jong Un was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn’t have been,” Noem’s spokesperson told CNN in the aftermath of the incident.

Controversial governor

Noem also has seen a spate of controversies during her time as governor.

She initially rose to national prominence after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per CNN, Noem has also been the subject of an ethics complaint in South Dakota.

It had been alleged that Noem used her influence to help her daughter in receiving a real estate appraiser’s license.

Noem was also banned in some tribal lands over comments she made.

As per Newsweek, Noem, speaking to the South Dakota Legislature in January 2024, said, “Make no mistake, the cartels have a presence on several of South Dakota’s tribal reservations… They have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity.”

“We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that’s why they attack me every day,” she added in March.

Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out responded, “Our people are being used for her political gain.

With inputs from agencies