Noem’s Blame-Shift on Asylum Gaffe Ignites Trump Fury, Exposing Rifts in Administration’s Immigration Push

By Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Emily Cochrane Washington — Dec. 1, 2025

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, the hard-charging South Dakota Republican tasked with executing President Donald J. Trump’s aggressive deportation agenda, found herself at the epicenter of a political firestorm on Sunday after a live-television exchange laid bare a potentially damaging contradiction in the administration’s immigration narrative. During an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Ms. Noem repeatedly pinned the blame for inadequate vetting on the Biden administration in connection with the fatal shooting of a National Guard member near the White House, only to be confronted with the revelation that the suspect’s asylum application had been approved under Mr. Trump’s watch. The moment, captured in a viral clip that has amassed over 10 million views on social media, prompted an immediate eruption from Mr. Trump, who accused Ms. Noem of “throwing the boss under the bus” in a series of blistering Truth Social posts, sending shockwaves through a White House already strained by internal recriminations over the policy’s rollout.

The confrontation unfolded midway through Ms. Noem’s interview with moderator Kristen Welker, as the discussion turned to Rahmanullah Lakanwal, the 29-year-old Afghan national accused of gunning down National Guard member Sgt. Elena Ramirez and critically wounding another near the White House last Wednesday. Mr. Lakanwal, who had served alongside U.S. forces in a CIA-backed strike unit in Afghanistan before fleeing Taliban reprisals, was granted asylum in April 2025 — months into Mr. Trump’s second term — after a review by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, a DHS agency under Ms. Noem’s purview. Investigators believe he was radicalized in Washington state through community ties, a detail Ms. Noem cited to underscore the need for stricter post-arrival monitoring.

“We believe he was radicalized since he’s been here in this country,” Ms. Noem said, her voice firm as she lambasted the Biden-era evacuation of over 76,000 Afghans in 2021 for creating a “dangerous backlog” of unvetted cases. “The vetting process happens when the person comes into the country, and Joe Biden completely did not vet any of those individuals,” she added, echoing Mr. Trump’s recent executive order freezing asylum claims from “third-world countries” in the shooting’s aftermath. But when Ms. Welker pressed: “Asylum was approved in April of this year on the Trump administration’s watch. So just to be very clear, what vetting did the Trump administration do before giving this suspect asylum?” Ms. Noem faltered, pausing for several seconds before pivoting: “That’s the Biden administration’s responsibility.” The exchange, clipped and shared by NBC’s official X account, went viral, with critics dubbing it the moment Ms. Noem “said the quiet part out loud” — admitting, in effect, that the administration’s own processes had failed.

Mr. Trump’s rage was swift and unfiltered. From Mar-a-Lago, where he was hosting a post-Thanksgiving strategy session on mass deportations, the president fired off a midday Truth Social thread viewed over 20 million times: “Kristi Noem just BLEW UP our STRONG border story on FAKE NEWS NBC — blaming BIDEN when it was US who approved this killer’s entry? DISLOYAL! She better FIX this FAST or find a new job. America First means NO EXCUSES!” The posts, laced with his signature all-caps fury, drew cheers from MAGA influencers but stunned Ms. Noem’s allies, who leaked details of a tense 45-minute call between the two later that afternoon. “The president was apoplectic — this undercuts everything we’re building,” one DHS official said, speaking anonymously to discuss internal deliberations. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt attempted damage control in a briefing, insisting Ms. Noem’s comments reflected “ongoing reviews of Biden’s mess,” but the retraction rang hollow amid the clip’s relentless recirculation.

The gaffe has ignited a full-blown political inferno, fracturing the administration’s unified front on immigration just as “Operation Sentinel Gate” — the DHS-led push to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants using the Alien Enemies Act — gears up for January raids. Democrats pounced with glee, framing the moment as a confession of incompetence. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., took to the floor Monday morning, replaying the clip on C-SPAN: “Secretary Noem’s stunned silence speaks volumes — this isn’t vetting failure; it’s Trump’s failure. They approved the asylum, then radicalization happened on their watch.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., followed with a blistering statement accusing Ms. Noem of “gaslighting America” to deflect from the administration’s “chaotic backlog,” and demanded her immediate testimony before the Judiciary Committee.

Even within Republican circles, the backlash rippled. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a staunch Trump ally and immigration hawk, struck a cautious note on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends”: “Kristi’s a fighter, but that dodge doesn’t help — we need accountability across the board, not finger-pointing.” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., whose district includes Afghan refugee communities upended by the freeze, told reporters: “This shooting’s tragic, but blaming ghosts from Biden won’t fix our vetting holes. Noem’s got to own it.” The episode has emboldened moderates wary of the policy’s human cost: A leaked GOP poll from a swing-state firm showed support for mass deportations dipping to 48 percent among independents, with the Noem clip cited as a “credibility killer.” On X, #NoemQuietPart trended with 2.8 million mentions, blending memes of her frozen expression captioned “When the facts hit” with threads from Afghan-American advocates decrying the family separations already underway.

For Ms. Noem, 54, the meltdown compounds a tenure defined by bold strokes and bruising blowback. Elected South Dakota’s first female governor in 2018, she rocketed to cabinet prominence as a Trump surrogate, defending his policies even as her state grappled with rural fentanyl crises tied to border flows. Her January 2025 nomination — over qualms about her federal inexperience — was hailed by the base as a “MAGA win,” with promises of “deportations without apology.” Yet missteps have mounted: A September Chicago raid where federal agents shot an unarmed woman drew rebukes from Mayor Brandon Johnson as “unhinged,” and an October FEMA panel clash saw her push to dismantle the agency, only for Trump appointees to recommend bolstering it. Now, the asylum revelation — detailed in government files reviewed by Reuters — has fueled whispers of a short shelf life, with allies like Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., privately urging her to “get ahead of the narrative” in a Monday Oval Office sit-down.

The White House, sensing vulnerability, moved to insulate Mr. Trump. In a morning call with House leaders, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles floated “enhanced vetting” executive orders to refocus blame on Biden holdovers, while Mr. Trump teased a “major border announcement” Tuesday, potentially unveiling AI-driven screening for green card holders. Yet the firestorm lingers: Immigration rights groups like the ACLU filed an emergency motion Monday to halt Sentinel Gate, citing the shooting as evidence of “rushed, flawed processes.” Victims’ families, including Sgt. Ramirez’s husband, issued a statement through the V.F.W.: “We grieve our loss, but politicizing asylum won’t bring her back — it just divides us further.”

As the holiday season dawns amid division, Ms. Noem’s live-TV confession stands as a stark emblem of Mr. Trump’s second-term perils: A policy forged in fury, now fraying under facts. Historians liken it to the 2018 family separation crisis, where optics overwhelmed optics. “Noem said the quiet part out loud — that radicalization happens here, not just at the border,” said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton political historian. “Trump’s rage? It’s the sound of a narrative cracking.” In Washington, where blame is the ultimate currency, one stunned pause may not just ignite a firestorm — it could consume a cabinet.