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Trump Taps US Senator Mullin to Replace Noem as DHS chief

(FILES) Subcommittee chairman US Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican from Oklahoma, looks on before the start of a Legislative Branch Subcommittee hearing on "A Review of the FY2026 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office" at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / AFP)
(FILES) Subcommittee chairman US Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican from Oklahoma, looks on before the start of a Legislative Branch Subcommittee hearing on "A Review of the FY2026 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office" at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / AFP)
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Trump Taps US Senator Mullin to Replace Noem as DHS chief

(FILES) Subcommittee chairman US Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican from Oklahoma, looks on before the start of a Legislative Branch Subcommittee hearing on "A Review of the FY2026 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office" at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / AFP)
(FILES) Subcommittee chairman US Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican from Oklahoma, looks on before the start of a Legislative Branch Subcommittee hearing on "A Review of the FY2026 Budget Requests for the Congressional Budget Office, the Government Accountability Office, and the Government Publishing Office" at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on April 29, 2025. (Photo by Drew ANGERER / AFP)

One of the top officials overseeing President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, will leave her role, US President Donald Trump said on Thursday, a major staffing move that raises questions about the direction of the Republican president's immigration agenda.

"I am pleased to announce that the Highly Respected United States Senator from the Great State of Oklahoma, Markwayne Mullin, will become the United States Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS), effective March 31, 2026," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Noem will serve as "Special envoy for The Shield of the Americas," Trump said, according to Reuters.

Noem, a former governor of South Dakota, became one of Trump's most high-profile Cabinet secretaries with social media posts that portrayed immigrants in harsh terms, highlighting cases of alleged criminal offenders and using vitriolic language. She faced criticism in January when she quickly labeled two US citizens fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis as committing "domestic terrorism." Videos that emerged after the deaths undercut the assertion by Noem and other Trump officials that ⁠the two deceased - ⁠Renee Good and Alex Pretti - were violent aggressors.

The public backlash for deaths led the Trump administration to move to a more targeted approach to immigration enforcement in Minnesota after months of sweeps through US cities that led to violent clashes with residents opposing the crackdown.

Democrats in the US House of Representatives moved to impeach Noem and at least two Republicans in Congress called for her to lose her job after the incidents. During congressional hearings in March, Democrats and some Republicans criticized Noem for her approach to the immigration crackdown and management of DHS, including concern over a $220 million ⁠ad campaign that heavily featured Noem.

The staffing change raises questions about whether the Trump administration could seek to intensify its mass deportation push or retreat to a more targeted approach.

Under Noem's leadership, masked immigration agents surged into Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., scouring neighborhoods and Home Depot parking lots in search of possible immigration offenders.

The popularity of Trump's immigration approach fell as agents detained US citizens and tear-gassed streets in an attempt to drive up deportations, which last year fell short of the administration's goal of 1 million per year.

While Noem, 54, served as a prominent proponent of Trump's agenda, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, a long-time Trump aide, controls Trump's immigration policy.

Noem was quickly confirmed to lead the 260,000-employee Department of Homeland Security in January 2025 after Trump took office.

On social media, she referred to immigrants convicted of crimes as "scumbags" ⁠even as the number ⁠of non-criminals arrested by immigration authorities rose under Trump. She joined immigration enforcement operations on the ground in New York City and visited a maximum-security prison in El Salvador where Venezuelan immigrants deported by the Trump administration were being held without charges or access to lawyers.

The number of migrants caught trying to illegally cross the US-Mexico border plummeted under Trump's restrictive policies, a steep drop after high levels of illegal immigration under former President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Noem, reflecting Trump's agenda, also took steps to cut legal immigration programs and increase vetting. She ended several Temporary Protected Status programs that provided work permits to hundreds of thousands of immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti and other nations, drawing legal challenges.

After an Afghan immigrant was accused of attacking National Guard members in Washington, D.C., Noem said she recommended that Trump place "a full travel ban on every damn country that’s been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies."

Critics said Noem demonized immigrants and promoted an immigration enforcement strategy that targeted non-criminal, working immigrants and families. During Noem's tenure, the number of deaths in immigration detention rose to a two-decade high while staff in DHS oversight offices were slashed sharply.

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USS Ford Aircraft Carrier Departs Middle East after Record-breaking Deployment

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Costas METAXAKIS / AFP)
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Costas METAXAKIS / AFP)
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USS Ford Aircraft Carrier Departs Middle East after Record-breaking Deployment

The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Costas METAXAKIS / AFP)
The US Navy aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford departs Souda Bay on the island of Crete on February 26, 2026. (Photo by Costas METAXAKIS / AFP)

The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, will be heading home following a record-setting deployment of more than 300 days that included participating in the war against Iran and capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, two US officials said Wednesday.

The Ford will be leaving the Middle East in the coming days and returning to its home port in Virginia in mid-May, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to detail sensitive military movements. The Washington Post reported the development earlier.

The arrival of the USS George H.W. Bush to the region last week meant three American aircraft carriers were deployed to the Middle East — a number not seen since 2003 — during a tenuous ceasefire in the Iran war. USS Abraham Lincoln also has been in the region since January as tensions with Tehran ramped up.

This month, the Ford broke the US record for the longest post-Vietnam War deployment, a nearly 10-month span after leaving Naval Station Norfolk in June, The Associated Press reported.

The ship’s 295th day at sea surpassed the previous longest deployment by an aircraft carrier in the past 50 years, when the Lincoln was sent out for 294 days in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data compiled by US Naval Institute News, a news outlet run by the US Naval Institute, a nonprofit organization.

The Ford's long deployment has raised questions about the impact on service members who are away from home for long periods as well as increasing strain on the ship and its equipment, with the carrier already enduring a fire that forced it to undergo lengthy repairs.

Asked about the Ford's long deployment in a hearing Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he consulted with the Navy and those officials did mention readiness and maintenance tradeoffs.

"Multiple times the operational requirements — whether it was down in Southcom or up to Centcom — demanded additional assets in real time, which through a tough decision-making process led to an extension,” Hegseth said, referring to US Southern Command, which oversees Latin America, and US Central Command in the Middle East.

The Ford began its deployment by heading to the Mediterranean Sea. It was then rerouted to the Caribbean Sea in October as part of the largest naval buildup in the region in generations.

The carrier took part in the military operation to capture Maduro. Then it would see more battle, heading toward the Middle East as tensions with Iran escalated.

The carrier took part in the opening days of the Iran war from the Mediterranean Sea before going through the Suez Canal and heading into the Red Sea in early March.

However, a fire in one of its laundry spaces forced the carrier to turn around and return to the Mediterranean Sea for repairs, leaving hundreds of sailors without places to sleep.

The Ford’s 295-day deployment falls short of the longest deployment during the Cold War, a record held by the now-decommissioned USS Midway. It was deployed for 332 days in 1972 and 1973.

More recently, the crew of the USS Nimitz was on duty and away from home for a total of 341 days in 2020 and 2021. However, that included extended isolation periods ashore in the US meant to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

World

New Zealand Court Rejects Mosque Gunman’s Appeal to Abandon his Guilty Pleas

FILE - Brenton Tarrant appears in the Christchurch District Court, in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 16, 2019. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Brenton Tarrant appears in the Christchurch District Court, in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 16, 2019. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP, File)
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New Zealand Court Rejects Mosque Gunman’s Appeal to Abandon his Guilty Pleas

FILE - Brenton Tarrant appears in the Christchurch District Court, in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 16, 2019. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Brenton Tarrant appears in the Christchurch District Court, in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 16, 2019. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP, File)

The white supremacist who shot to death 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, lost an attempt to abandon his guilty pleas at the country’s Court of Appeal on Thursday.

The panel of three judges dismissed Brenton Tarrant’s claim that harsh prison conditions prompted his involuntarily admission to the terrorism, murder and attempted murder charges he faced. The Australian man, who is now 35, murdered 51 worshippers and injured dozens more in March 2019 when he drove to two Christchurch mosques and opened fire with semiautomatic weapons during Friday prayers.

Tarrant’s guilty pleas in March 2020 brought relief to bereaved families and survivors of the attack, who dreaded the prospect of a lengthy trial and feared he would use it to air his hateful views. The failure of his appeal bid — which the court noted was made 505 days after the legal deadline for it to be filed — means such a trial has again been averted.

At the court's five-day hearing in February, the attacker argued his admissions of guilt were provoked by “irrationality” induced by poor mental health, which led him to desert his racist views for a time. The judges concluded, however, that his claims of mental illness were inconsistent and weren’t supported by prison staff, mental health professionals or lawyers who had earlier represented him.

“He was not suffering from a mental impairment or any other form of mental incapacity which rendered him unable to voluntarily change his pleas to guilty,” the judges wrote, according to The Associated Press.

“He endeavored to mislead us about his state of mind in a weak attempt to advance an appeal in circumstances where all other evidence demonstrated that he made an informed and totally rational decision to plead guilty.”

FILE - An armed policeman patrols the grounds at the Al Noor mosque following the previous week's mass shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand, on March 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)

The court's ruling also revealed that Tarrant sought to abandon his appeal shortly after making his case at the hearing in February. The judges rejected that bid too, writing that the case was “of significant public interest and should be finally determined.”

They suggested that Tarrant “began to form the opinion that the hearing was not proceeding in his favor, and as a result decided to file a notice of abandonment after the hearing concluded.”

New Zealand law doesn’t require judges to allow an appellant to quit an appeal bid once it’s underway.

He will remain in jail for life Tarrant, who has since fired the lawyers acting for him in February, remains in Auckland Prison, where he was sentenced in August 2020 to spend life in prison without the chance of parole. The judges allowed him to abandon his appeal that sentence, which was scheduled to be heard later in 2026.

The Australian-born man moved to New Zealand in 2017 with a plan to commit a mass shooting. He amassed a cache of weapons and made a reconnaissance trip to the sites of his planned crimes before the attack.

The appeal court judges wrote that Tarrant had accepted the summary of facts presented to him by the police and the sentencing judge and noted that the case against him was “overwhelming.”

Evidence included footage of the attack that the shooter filmed himself and livestreamed on the internet, in which he showed his own face, and a document outlining his racist views that he published online before the attacks under his real name.

World

King Charles to Visit New York to Commemorate 9/11 Victims

US President Donald Trump alongside Britain's King Charles III during a dinner at the White House (AP)
US President Donald Trump alongside Britain's King Charles III during a dinner at the White House (AP)
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King Charles to Visit New York to Commemorate 9/11 Victims

US President Donald Trump alongside Britain's King Charles III during a dinner at the White House (AP)
US President Donald Trump alongside Britain's King Charles III during a dinner at the White House (AP)

Britain's King Charles and his wife Queen Camilla arrive in New York on Wednesday to commemorate victims of the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attack on the city, part of a four-day state visit to the US.

The king and queen's visit to New York follows a packed day in Washington on Tuesday, when Charles delivered a speech to the US Congress, held private meetings with President Donald Trump amid tensions between the US and Britain over the Iran war, and sat down with leaders of the US tech industry.

At a White House state dinner on Tuesday night, Trump suggested Charles told the president he did not want Iran to have a nuclear weapon. The king is not a spokesman for the UK government and it could not be confirmed that Charles made the statement to Trump.

Britain was one of the countries alongside the US that negotiated the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, which sharply limited Tehran's nuclear programs and opened them to inspectors until Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the agreement during his first White House term.

Charles and Camilla's visit to New York comes on the third day of their state visit to the US during a tense time in relations between the US and Britain after Trump has repeatedly criticized Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for what Trump says is his lack of help in prosecuting the Iran war.

Charles and Camilla will begin their day in New York with a ceremony at the 9/11 memorial in lower Manhattan, where the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed by al Qaeda suicide bombers on September 11, 2001, an attack that killed nearly 2,800 people.

Charles is expected to meet with New York City's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, at the ceremony.

The king will then head to Harlem to visit a grassroots community organization that created a sustainable after-school urban farming initiative in an effort to combat food insecurity, according to local media. Such projects have been a passion of the king's for decades.

Meanwhile, Camilla will celebrate the 100th birthday of A.A. Milne’s fictional character Winnie-the-Pooh on behalf of her charity, The Queen’s Reading Room, which Buckingham Palace is calling a "literary engagement" event.