Tricia McLaughlin, Kristi Noem’s former assistant, struggles to land a job at Fox News

The controversy intensified when Noem was questioned about the campaign by Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana during a Senate hearing.

While defending the costly ads, Noem claimed that President Donald Trump had personally approved the initiative.

Trump quickly publicly pushed back against that claim. Within hours of the exchange, Noem was fired from her Cabinet position — becoming the first Cabinet official to be fired during Trump’s second presidential term.

Following the fallout, the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general launched a formal investigation into how the advertising contract was awarded.

Despite the growing controversy, a senior White House official insisted McLaughlin was not forced out of DHS.

“She told us she was planning to leave on her own and we were actually disappointed to hear that because she was great working with her, and she was a big supporter of the president on TV!” the official told the outlet.

During her time at DHS, McLaughlin had become a household name Fox Newswho regularly appears on primetime programs to defend government policies.

“Tricia really knows her ‘STUFF,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social in December after one of her television appearances.