Trump hears updates from his Cabinet...but skips right over embattled Noem
Trump snubs Kristi Noem at Cabinet meeting after calls for her firing
- President Donald Trump concluded his first cabinet meeting of 2026 without taking questions from reporters or calling on Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to speak.
- Trump deviated from his usual practice of hours-long cabinet meetings, instead calling on a select group of advisers and stating he preferred the new, shorter format.
- Noem, seated at the far end of the table, remained silent throughout the 90-minute session and was not acknowledged by Trump, a stark contrast from Trump’s previous nine cabinet meetings.
- The snub follows intense scrutiny of Noem's response to the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agents. She claimed Saturday that the shooting was the consequence of “a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum damage on individuals and kill law enforcement,” even though Pretti never drew his weapon, which he had a permit to carry.
- Trump brushed off calls to fire Noem after Democrats and some Republicans demanded her resignation or dismissal over her handling of Pretti’s killing.
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