A U.S. Coast Guard pilot was reportedly fired after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s blanket was left behind on a plane, according to new claims from The Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ article — which delves into the immigration crackdown, Noem’s relationship with adviser Corey Lewandowski, and the « constant chaos inside DHS » — mentioned a time when Noem, 54, had to switch planes due to a maintenance issue. During the plane switch, her blanket reportedly wasn’t moved over, the publication said, citing people familiar with the incident.
The plane’s pilot was allegedly fired by Lewandowski and told to take a commercial flight home once the team reached their destination. However, he ended up being reinstated after the group realized nobody else was available to fly them back, WSJ reported.
DHS assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin denied the outlet’s allegations against Noem and Lewandowski in a statement to PEOPLE, saying, “This is categorically false.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told PEOPLE in a statement about the report that President Donald Trump « continues to have full confidence in the Secretary. »Government to Spend Nearly $200 Million on ‘Spacious’ Private Jets for Kristi Noem and Other Officials: Reports
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference at a federal office building on October 20, 2025
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ICE agents detain a woman after pulling her from a car on January 13, 2026 in Minneapolis
Elsewhere in the report, WSJ claimed that since Noem took office in January 2025, she has been closely monitoring how her national profile compares to other officials in the Trump administration, specifically White House border czar Tom Homan.
Noem has allegedly kept track of how much she and Homan have been on television to make sure she is on screens more often and berated staff if she saw him on TV, the outlet reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.
The secretary has also allegedly asked aides on at least one occasion to make sure she drew a larger crowd than Homan at her press conference, the outlet reported.
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Though Noem officially oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as the leader of the Department of Homeland Security, Homan was tapped by Trump as an unofficial immigration chief who reports directly to the president, not Noem.
WSJ claimed that Noem and Homan rarely speak.
Kristi Noem, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at a Feb. 4, 2026, press conference in Arizona.
Ash Ponders/Bloomberg via Getty
Noem quickly became the public face of Trump’s immigration crackdown during his second term, facing fierce backlash as the actions of ICE and CBP garnered renewed attention in 2026 following the shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and other reports of violence toward immigrants and protesters.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Jan. 15, Noem was asked about reports of ICE and border agents asking bystanders to prove their citizenship status, and whether she expected Americans to carry around proof of citizenship in case they were stopped.
“In every situation, we are doing targeted enforcement, » the former South Dakota governor claimed in response. « If we are on a target and doing an operation, there may be individuals surrounding that criminal that we may be asking who they are and why they’re there and having them validate their identity.”
“That’s what we’ve always done in asking people who they are so that we know who’s in those surroundings, » she added.
Noem said that if someone was deemed to be breaking the law by agents, they would be detained “until we’ve run that processing.”Donald Trump Skips Over Kristi Noem During Cabinet Meeting After She’s Sidelined from Minneapolis ICE Operation
US President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (R) during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026; US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (R) looks on as President Donald Trump hosts a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026.
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U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem testifies before the House Committee on Homeland Security in the Cannon House Office Building on December 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. The committee convened to hear testimony from top national security officials on potential worldwide threats.
Amid national protests triggered by the DHS presence in Minneapolis — and Noem’s false claims that Pretti « committed an act of domestic terrorism » before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24 — the homeland security secretary was sidelined from the operation.
In a Jan. 26 Truth Social post, Trump announced that he was sending Homan to be his new point person on the ground in the embattled city.
« I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight, » Trump, 79, wrote at the time. « He has not been involved in that area, but knows and likes many of the people there. Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me. »
On Feb. 12, Homan announced that, at his recommendation, the immigration operation in Minneapolis would come to an end.
