Kristi Noem Controversies: From Dog Killing to Tribal Land Bans

Donald Trump has picked South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as the next secretary of Homeland Security, according to CNN.
Whilst the announcement hasn’t been officially confirmed, CNN cited “two people familiar with the selection” to support its claim, though they are not named. The Department of Homeland Security has oversight over U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), making it key to President-elect Trump’s dual pledges to slash illegal immigration, and deport millions of illegal migrants already in the United States.
Noem was first elected as South Dakota governor in 2018 and achieved re-election four years later. In early 2024 she was widely seen as one of the favorites to be Trump’s vice presidential running mate. However, her odds declined sharply following the publication of extracts from her 2024 biography No Going Back, in which Noem described shooting her 14-month old dog Cricket after concluding it was “untrainable.”
In addition to the killing of Cricket, Noem has been engaged in a number of other controversies throughout her career, which has seen her banned from the lands of several Native American tribes, accused of fabricating a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and criticized after promoting a cosmetic dental surgery in Texas.
Newsweek contacted the office of Governor Noem via online inquiry form on Tuesday outside of regular office hours.
Noem was banned from visiting the lands of all nine of South Dakota’s official Native American tribes in 2024 after claiming some of them had been infiltrated by drugs cartels.
The governor first made the claim to a joint session of the South Dakota Legislature in January 2024, in which she said: “Make no mistake, the cartels have a presence on several of South Dakota’s tribal reservations… They have been successful in recruiting tribal members to join their criminal activity.”
In March, Noem expanded on her allegation, commenting: “We’ve got some tribal leaders that I believe are personally benefiting from the cartels being there, and that’s why they attack me every day.”
Speaking to The Associated Press, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said: “Our people are being used for her political gain.”
In a statement sent to CNN in May, Noem said: “I only want to speak truth to the real challenges that are being faced in some areas of Indian Country.”
In April 2024, excerpts from Noem’s biography No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward were published by British newspaper The Guardian.

In one extract, Noem described shooting Cricket, her 14-month-old puppy, after it attacked a family’s chickens and later “whipped around to bite me.”
In response, Noem said, “I realized I had to put her down,” describing Cricket as “untrainable” and adding she “hated that dog.”
Speaking to Politico, former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich said: “Killing the dog and then writing about it ended any possibility of her being picked as [Trump’s] VP.”
During a later Fox News appearance, following intense criticism, Noem said she made the decision to kill Cricket due to concerns over her children’s safety.
She said: “You know, that story was a choice as a mom. The safety of my children versus a dangerous dog that was killing livestock and attacking people.”
Early versions of No Going Back acquired ahead of publication by a number of media organizations included the claim that Noem had met with Kim Jong Un. According to The New York Times, Noem wrote: “I remember when I met with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. I’m sure he underestimated me, having no clue about my experience staring down little tyrants (I’d been a children’s pastor, after all). Dealing with foreign leaders takes resolve, preparation, and determination.”
After questions were raised about the account, Noem’s spokesperson Ian Fury said it shouldn’t have been in the book and would be removed ahead of publication.
When asked whether she’d met Kim Jong Un by CBS News in May, the governor replied: “I’m not going to talk about my specific meetings with world leaders, I’m just not going to do that. This anecdote shouldn’t have been in the book and as soon as it was brought to my attention, I made sure that was adjusted.”
In her book, Noem also claimed she had been “slated to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron” but decided to cancel after he made “what I considered a very pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comment to the press.” Noem visited Paris in November 2023 to address the Worldwide Freedom Initiative conference. However, this account was disputed by the Élysée Palace, which said there was no record of a scheduled meeting between Macron and Noem.
In March 2024, Noem was sued by Travelers United, a consumer advocacy group, after she promoted the work of a Texas based cosmetic dentist which she said had performed work on her own teeth.
Travelers United said Noem “seems to have taken up work as a social media influencer as of 12 March 2024.” It accused the governor of “advertis[ing] a product or service without disclosing that she has a financial relationship with that company.”
In response on X, formerly Twitter, Noem wrote: “To be clear, I never received compensation for any alleged ‘advertisements.'”