A U.S. Coast Guard pilot was reportedly dismissed after a blanket belonging to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was left behind on a plane, according to new claims reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The report, which examines the administration’s immigration push, Noem’s working relationship with adviser Corey Lewandowski, and internal turmoil at the Department of Homeland Security, describes an incident in which Noem, 54, had to switch aircraft because of a maintenance issue. During the transfer, her blanket was allegedly not moved to the replacement plane, the outlet reported, citing people familiar with the situation.
According to the report, the pilot was allegedly fired by Lewandowski and told to take a commercial flight home once the group reached its destination. The pilot was later reinstated, the outlet said, after the team realized no one else was available to fly them back.
A DHS spokesperson disputed the account, calling it “categorically false.” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt also said in a statement that President Donald Trump “continues to have full confidence in the Secretary.”
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Elsewhere, the report claimed that since Noem took office in January 2025, she has closely monitored how her national visibility compares with other officials in the administration—particularly White House border czar Tom Homan. The outlet reported that she has tracked television appearances, complained when she saw Homan on TV, and on at least one occasion asked aides to ensure her press conference drew a larger crowd than his.
Although Noem oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as head of DHS, Homan was appointed by Trump as an unofficial immigration chief who reports directly to the president rather than to Noem. The report also claimed the two rarely speak.
Noem has become a prominent public face of the administration’s immigration crackdown during Trump’s second term, drawing intense criticism as ICE and CBP activity received renewed attention in 2026 following the shootings of U.S. citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti, along with other reports of violence involving immigrants and protesters.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Jan. 15, Noem was asked about reports that immigration and border agents had demanded bystanders prove their citizenship status—and whether Americans should expect to carry proof of citizenship in case they are stopped.
“In every situation, we are doing targeted enforcement,” Noem said. “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 agents believed someone was breaking the law, that person would be detained “until we’ve run that processing.”
Amid national protests tied to the federal presence in Minneapolis—and after Noem’s disputed claim that Pretti “committed an act of domestic terrorism” before he was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents on Jan. 24—Noem was reportedly sidelined from the operation.
In a Jan. 26 post, Trump said he was sending Homan to Minnesota to serve as his point person on the ground.
“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight,” Trump wrote. “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.
