Trump picks South Dakota’s puppy-shooting governor, Kristi Noem, for a key cabinet position

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been selected to join Donald Trump’s Cabinet and become head of the country’s homeland security agency, CNN reports.

The governor — whose vice presidential hopes were dashed when she admitted to shooting a puppy — will implement Trump’s promises to clean up the mess at the southern border and potentially deport millions of illegal migrants.

The Department of Homeland Security has a budget of $60 billion. She joins Trump loyalists Stephen Miller and Tom Homan, who will serve as border czar.

Trump and Honan have said they will begin their work to deport “millions” of migrants on his first day in the White House.

Starting with the asylum apps used by migrants to obtain interviews and then focusing on the super gangs terrorizing American cities, the pair explains who will be targeted for removal from the country.

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem looks set to become the latest Republican official to join Donald Trump’s Cabinet as the president-elect has picked her to be Secretary of Homeland Security

The governor will be a key figure in one of Trump’s key promises: cleaning up the mess at the southern border and possibly deporting millions of illegal migrants

Daily Mail spoke to sources across the country who mapped out exactly how they plan to do that.

Noem, 52, was considered a rising star in the Republican Party until a scandal erupted earlier this year in which she revealed in her biography that she had shot her own puppy, a 14-month-old named Cricket.

The Republican writes that she took Cricket hunting with older dogs in hopes of calming the wild puppy. Instead, Cricket chased the pheasants while “having the time of her life.”

On the way home from the hunting trip, Noem writes that when Cricket stopped to talk to a family, she got out of her truck and attacked and killed some of the family’s chickens, then bit the governor.

Noem apologized profusely, wrote the distraught family a check for the deceased chickens and helped them dispose of the carcasses, she wrote. She wrote that Cricket “was the picture of joy” as it all unfolded.

“I hated that dog,” writes Noem, who calls her “untrainable.”

“At that moment,” she says, “I realized I had to put her to sleep.”

Noem then remembers leading Cricket to a gravel pit and shooting her dead.

Noem, 52, was considered a rising star in the Republican Party until a scandal earlier this year in which she revealed in her biography that she had shot her own puppy, a 14-month-old named Cricket.

She will lead the Department of Homeland Security, which has a $60 billion budget, with the help of Trump loyalists Stephen Miller and Tom Homan (pictured right)

That wasn’t all. Noem writes that her family also owned a “nasty and mean” male goat who smelled bad and liked to chase her children, so she decided to go ahead and kill the goat as well.

She writes that the goat survived the first shot, so she went back to the truck, grabbed another grenade, then shot it again, killing it.

Shortly afterwards, a school bus dropped off Noem’s children. Her daughter asked, “Hey, where’s Cricket?” Noem writes.

The excerpts, first published by The Guardian, were immediately criticized on social media platforms, where many posted photos of their own pets. President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign resurfaced the story on social media, alongside a photo of Noem with Trump.

However, she was only brought back into the fold by Trump late in the campaign, including by moderating his infamous town hall, which turned into an impromptu dance party.

DailyMail.com also reported on rumors that Noem, who is married, had an affair with Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, who is also married, that continued into 2019, if not earlier.

Neither denied the affair when asked by DailyMail.com. The governor issued a statement attacking us for the timing of the article, while Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment

However, after the article’s initial publication, Noem’s spokesman Ian Fury strongly insisted that the pair had never had an affair.

Married South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, 51, and ex-Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski (pictured in Ohio in 2020) have been romancing for years despite both being married, DailyMail.com can reveal

Earlier Monday, Donald Trump tapped Florida Congressman Mike Waltz to become his White House National Security Advisor, sources familiar with the decision told DailyMail.com

The president spent much of Monday trying to secure key parts of his Cabinet ahead of his inauguration in January.

He has offered the role of US ambassador to the United Nations to Elise Stefanik.

The Republican and key ally of the president accepted the UN action after it was offered on Sunday, DailyMail.com confirmed.

Trump also selected former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin as his next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin confirmed the news on

He has also tapped Florida Congressman Mike Waltz to become his White House National Security Advisor, sources familiar with the decision told DailyMail.com.