Kristi Noem is a Republican politician from South Dakota who currently serves as the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Basic profile

  • Kristi Noem was born on November 30, 1971, in Watertown, South Dakota, and grew up on her family’s farm and ranch.
  • She is a long‑time conservative figure in national Republican politics, known especially for her stances on limited government, gun rights, and opposition to abortion.

Political career highlights

  • Noem served in the South Dakota House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011, where she worked on property tax policy and agriculture issues.
  • She represented South Dakota’s at‑large district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019, focusing on tax cuts, deregulation, and rural development.
  • In 2018 she was elected the first female governor of South Dakota and served from 2019 until 2025, gaining national attention during the COVID‑19 pandemic for rejecting statewide lockdowns and mask mandates.
  • After Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, she was nominated and confirmed as Secretary of Homeland Security in January 2025.

Recent controversies and public image

  • Noem has drawn both strong support and criticism for her handling of the pandemic, her hard‑line immigration positions, and her broader alignment with Trump‑era Republican politics.
  • Her 2024 book No Going Back sparked controversy over an anecdote about killing a young family dog and over disputed claims about meetings with foreign leaders, which intensified media and public scrutiny of her image.

Information gathered from public data available on the internet and portrayed here.