OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
11:15 AM – Thursday, February 5, 2026
President Donald Trump has rejected calls to fire Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid growing criticism over her department’s immigration enforcement.
While speaking at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, Trump revealed he had been asked about firing the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary during an interview with “NBC Nightly News” anchor Tom Llamas.
“Why would I do that?” Trump said. “”We have the strongest border in the history of our country. We have the best crime numbers we’ve ever had going back to the year 1900.”
“Do you still believe in Kristi Noem to deliver on your vision of immigration?” Llamas asked Trump on Wednesday, according to a transcript from NBC.
“Look she was in charge of the border. The border’s closed. I mean, everybody gives me A+ on the border,” Trump answered. “The border was a disaster. People were pouring into our country.”
“We have the best crime numbers that we’ve had in 125 years. I think she’s doing a very good job. Again, public relations. She’s not getting credit for the job that she does,” Trump continued.
Despite the interviewer’s attempt to change topics, Trump continued, “What is sad though … we had the two incidents, the two primary incidents in Minnesota.”
This most likely referred to the January shootings of Renee Good, who threatened an Immigration and Customs (ICE) officer with her vehicle, and Alex Pretti, who authorities said resisted while Border Patrol tried to disarm him.
“You arrest thousands of rapists. You arrest thousands of the worst people. You arrest the drug dealers. I mean, we had drug kingpins. We had murderers. Thousands, no incident. We bring ‘em back to their country. Two people it’s bad. I hate it. I hate even talking about it. Two people out of tens of thousands, okay?” Trump said in the transcript. “And you get bad publicity. Nobody talks about all of the murderers that we’re taking out of our country.”
Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the “incidents,” but affirmed his support for law enforcement nonetheless.
“Well, look — I’m not happy with the two incidents. … Not one or the other,” Trump stated. “He was not an angel and she was not an angel. You know, you look at some tapes … but still, I’m not happy with what happened there. Nobody can be happy and ICE wasn’t happy either. But I’m gonna always be with our great people of law enforcement. ICE, police, we have to back them. If we don’t back them we don’t have a country.”
When asked if he believed that the two individuals “not being angels” justified what happened to them, Trump answered, “No. I don’t. It should’ve not happened. It was a very sad — to me it was a very sad incident, two incidents… I think they were both sad.”
He added, “And — you know who feels worse about it than anybody? The people of ICE. They’re strong, tough people. And they have to be tough because we’re dealing with hardened criminals.”
Representative Robin Kelly (D-Ill.) announced in January on X that she would be filing Articles of Impeachment against Noem.
“I’ve had enough,” Kelly stated. “She has turned ICE into a rogue force, violating the Constitution, tearing families apart, and leaving death in her wake. From Chicago to Minneapolis, her recklessness cost lives, including Renee Nicole Good. This isn’t just dangerous—it’s impeachable. I’m fighting back.”
Representative Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) was among those who called for Noem to be removed from her position, and had been voicing this opinion when a man had sprayed her with a mysterious liquid.
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