U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem arrives for U.S. President Donald Trump's State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 24, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
White House insiders are secretly horrified by the power couple running the Department of Homeland Security, according to a new report.
The Atlantic reported on Thursday, citing information from a forthcoming book about Trump's deportation regime from NBC News reporter Julian Ainsley, that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her right-hand man, Corey Lewandowski, have turned DHS into a "dysfunctional fiefdom." The report added that Noem and Lewandowski's romantic relationship, which they both deny, has warped the agency's culture and caused tensions within the West Wing.
Even though Noem and Lewandowski have denied being in an extramarital affair, the report cites multiple conversations with Trump administration insiders who confirmed that the couple is "still f------."
That affair has also caused tensions between Noem and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who Ainsley's book described as being "personally repelled by their apparent infidelity."
Lewandowski's continued presence at DHS could also cause some legal headaches for the Trump administration, according to The Atlantic. Lewandowski was appointed as a "special government employee," meaning he can only work 130 days per year. But he has been referring to himself as a "chief advisor" to Noem.
The relationship has also caused Lewandowski to accumulate an "unchecked level of power" inside DHS, according to the report. DHS employees told Ainsley that there is a "chill" that falls over every meeting Lewandowski attends, and that has made people afraid to speak up.
"What are you going to do? Make an accusation? They’ll tear you apart,” one Customs and Border Patrol employee told Ainsley, according to the report.