Donald Trump Skips Over Kristi Noem During Cabinet Meeting After She’s Sidelined from Minneapolis ICE Operation

President Donald Trump added fresh momentum to speculation about Kristi Noem’s job security during a televised Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Jan. 29.

Trump’s Cabinet sessions — where senior officials typically brief him on their agencies’ priorities — have increasingly doubled as moments for the administration to highlight progress and weigh in on major headlines. But on Thursday, two notable choices by the president stood out as scrutiny continued to build over the Department of Homeland Security’s controversial presence in Minnesota.

The federal immigration operation in Minneapolis has triggered intense backlash for the administration, including officer-involved fatal shootings of American citizens Renee Good and Alex Pretti; widespread concern over 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos after reports of his ICE detainment while returning home from preschool with his father went viral; and the recent attack on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar as she criticized Noem at a town hall.

During the meeting, Trump asked multiple Cabinet members for updates on issues including housing, the economy, and the situation in Venezuela. But afterward, CNN chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins noted that the president did not call on Noem — leaving her without an opportunity to address the growing criticism around her oversight of federal immigration agencies.

Trump also ended the meeting abruptly and, in a rare move for the 47th president, declined to take questions from members of the White House press corps.

“There have been a ton of headlines generated around Minneapolis, what’s happening there, especially with the president changing his leadership there on the ground,” Collins said on-air immediately after the event. “That did not come up at all during this Cabinet meeting, and we were there for over an hour and a half.”

“Not once was Minneapolis brought up, and obviously no questions were brought up to the president because he did not take questions, despite talking during the Cabinet meeting about how he believes they are the most transparent administration ever,” she added.

Noem and Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino also faced renewed criticism following comments made shortly after Pretti’s death on Jan. 24, when they described the 37-year-old ICU nurse as a “domestic terrorist.”

“This individual who came with weapons and ammunition to stop a law enforcement operation of federal law enforcement officers committed an act of domestic terrorism,” Noem said while speaking with reporters just hours after Pretti was shot and killed. “That’s the facts.”

Video footage later showed Pretti holding a cell phone, not a gun, and that Border Patrol agents disarmed him before he was shot at point-blank range.

Calls for Noem’s impeachment have come from both Republicans and Democrats. Still, when asked on Jan. 27 whether Noem would step down, Trump replied simply: “No.”

Even so, Trump has moved Noem and Bovino away from the Minneapolis operation. In a Jan. 26 Truth Social post, Trump announced he was sending his “border czar,” Tom Homan, to serve as his new point person on the ground in the city.

“I am sending Tom Homan to Minnesota tonight,” Trump, 79, 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.”

The following day, The Atlantic reported that Bovino would return to his Border Patrol post in El Centro, Calif., where he is Commander Op At Large of that sector.

CBS News also reported on Jan. 27 that Noem is unlikely to lose her Cabinet position outright, but is expected to shift her attention away from Minneapolis to “securing the southern border and other priorities.”

On Jan. 27, Axios reported that Noem was mounting a defense amid the growing scrutiny, reportedly placing blame for any DHS missteps on Trump and his deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller.

“Everything I’ve done, I’ve done at the direction of the president and Stephen,” Noem reportedly said, according to a person who relayed the quote to Axios.