White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt insisted Donald Trump has not lost confidence in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem despite sending border czar Tom Homan to take charge in Minneapolis.
Speaking from the White House podium on Monday, Leavitt suggested that Homan was being sent to deal with the escalating situation because Noem was too busy.
“Secretary Noem still has the utmost confidence and trust of the president of the United States, and she is continuing to oversee the entire Department of Homeland Security and all of the immigration enforcement that’s taking place across the entire country,” Leavitt said.
“Border czar Homan is in a unique position to drop everything and go to Minnesota to continue having these productive conversations with state and local officials,” Leavitt said.
Trump announced in a Truth Social post on Monday that Homan was heading to Minneapolis.
“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,” Trump wrote. [why wouldn't he report to Noem?]
There have been multiple reports of Homan and Noem bitterly feuding in the past.
While the White House insisted that Trump has not lost confidence in Noem, Leavitt desperately tried to distance the president from his DHS secretary’s comments over the weekend.
[Noem will be gone by Friday.]