If you’re still sad that Game of Thrones went off the air, we’ve got some good news…sort of. The spirit of that show, complete with political intrigue and secret betrayals, is alive and well in America. It’s no longer limited to your TV set, though. Instead, it’s going on at the highest levels of government!
For example, it seems like First Lady Melania Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem are secretly good friends. Moreover, that friendship may have been enough to help Noem keep her job despite national calls for her to get fired. What’s going on with this friendship? How did it help the secretary keep her job, and where does Donald Trump factor into all of this?
Just keep reading to find out!
Kristi Noem has been under fire
These days, more people are calling for Kristi Noem to get fired than ever before. The cause of the national outcry against her is quite simple: two different American citizens have recently been shot by ICE agents on the streets of Minnesota. Footage of these incidents from various angles has gone viral, and many people feel that the agents are responsible for killing people who, at worst, should simply have been arrested.
None of these agents have been charged with anything, and they are unlikely to ever have to defend themselves in court. But when it comes to ICE, the buck stops with Kristi Noem, and people around the country believe she should be held responsible for the tragedies that have been happening under her watch. With calls to mount the DHS Secretary growing by the day, it has been an open question of whether Donald Trump might fire her as a way of easing tensions nationwide.
RELATED: The Most Heartbreaking Details About Melania Trump’s Life
The secret friendship between Melania Trump and Kristi Noem
Until very recently, nobody suspected any kind of relationship (friendly or otherwise) between Melania Trump and Kristi Noem. This isn’t really all that surprising, of course: Melania has only grown more reclusive during her husband’s second presidential term, so it’s not like we know who she is having lunch dates with. Meanwhile, for better or for worse, Noem has been kept quite busy running the Department of Homeland Security, something made that much more difficult by Donald Trump’s mandate to cut down on illegal immigration in the most visible possible way throughout the country.
Recently, though, Daily Mail reporter Mark Halperin claims that Melania Trump “is a big fan and a fast friend” of Kristi Noem. His larger point in citing this factoid is to say that Noem’s job is likely very secure because she is on Melania’s good side. Because she is married to Donald Trump, that’s the next best thing to being on the commander-in-chief’s good side!
If Halperin is right, then the existing friendship might have been enough to help Noem keep her job despite the national outcry. Depending on who you talk to, though, the First Lady may have played a more direct role in helping the DHS secretary keep her job!
Did Melania help Kristi keep her job?
At first, you might think the idea that Kristi Noem was in serious danger of losing her job to be pure speculation on the part of her haters. However, her professional fate seemed to hang by a thread recently when she met with Donald Trump and other top aides in a meeting that lasted over two hours. Nobody knows exactly what the president had to say to his DHS secretary, but the general consensus is that nothing good usually comes from being summoned to a major meeting with your boss.
However, after that meeting, nothing really dramatic happened to Kristi Noem, professionally or otherwise. In fact, the only possible consequence of the meeting is that Border Czar Tom Homan is now taking direct leadership of ICE operations in Minnesota. Some saw this as a slap on the wrist for Noem, but others saw it as a way of saving her career. After all, if any other ICE-related tragedies happen in that state, she won’t be the one who gets the blame!
RELATED: Melania Trump’s Time With Donald Trump: A History In Photos
The secret to staying on Donald Trump’s good side
According to Mark Halperin, Melania Trump is a big fan of Kristi Noem. How, though, does that translate to Noem keeping her job? According to Michael Wolff, who wrote the definitive book about Donald Trump’s first administration (Fire and Fury), it all comes down to the president wanting to do something every husband can understand: keep his wife on his good side!
In a recent episode of his Inside Trump’s Head podcast, Wolff claimed that Trump is “not moved by normal political considerations, but he is moved by a pissed-off wife.” Above all else, “What he does not want is a pissed-off and uncontrolled Melania.” If this is true, it means that Kristi Noem might have kept her job thanks to having friends in high places…namely, the FLOTUS. Just one more example that having a successful career is less about what you know than who you know!