WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Thursday fired Kristi Noem as head of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency responsible for carrying out his sweeping immigration crackdown.

According to multiple media reports, Trump was upset with Noem’s testimony at a Senate hearing this week where she said the president had approved a $220 million DHS advertising campaign in which she featured prominently.

Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform, said Markwayne Mullen, a Republican senator from Oklahoma, would take over from Noem at the powerful department on March 31.

The president said Noem, 54, would become his special envoy for a new security initiative in the Western Hemisphere he called “The Shield of the Americas.”

Noem “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!),” Trump said.

Trump described Mullin as a “MAGA Warrior” and said he will be a “spectacular Secretary of Homeland Security.”

Mullin’s nomination will be subject to confirmation by the Senate, where Republicans hold a majority.

“Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN,” Trump said.

The Republican president campaigned for the White House on a pledge to remove millions of undocumented migrants from the United States and DHS is the chief enforcer of his deportation policy.

Noem made no mention of being ousted during a more than 30-minute address and question-and-answer session at a law enforcement event in Nashville, but later addressed........

© The Times of Israel