Trump Says Kristi Noem Def Didn’t Delay Texas Flood Response—Because He Saw Her on TV

Specifically, Trump said his administration's response was "right on time" because Noem was the "first one" he saw on TV the morning of July 4. Makes sense.

By Lauren Tousignant | July 11, 2025 | 2:47pm

Photos: Getty Images Politics

Trump Says Kristi Noem Def Didn’t Delay Texas Flood Response—Because He Saw Her on TV

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is constantly under fire because she’s bad at her job and cares more about getting hair extensions to have photoshoots at foreign gulags than she does about, oh, I don’t know, competently running the Department of Homeland Security. But this week, ICE Barbie is under fire because she fucked up FEMA’s response to the deadly Texas floods. Fortunately for her, her boss thinks she did a great job since she managed to prioritize the one thing he cares about.

On Wednesday, CNN reported that Noem inexplicably took an entire weekend to sign off on extra FEMA-requested resources amid the catastrophic flooding in Texas, which has since left 120 dead and over 150 still missing. Even worse, the delay stemmed from a needless rule Noem herself recently implemented.

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The new rule stipulates that any contract or grant over $100,000 has to get her personal signature before the money is released. Some (most) might call this government red tape or a pointless bureaucratic hurdle, but Noem calls it weeding out waste. Sure! So when the flash floods in Texas devastated multiple towns over the Fourth of July weekend, FEMA had to wait on Noem before deploying critical search and rescue operations. The agency sent its requests on Friday. Noem didn’t sign off until Monday.

Noem went on Fox & Friends Thursday to call CNN “absolute trash” for its reporting—but she failed to explain why it took her so long to sign off on the extra rescue resources. She also didn’t address why she had time on Sunday to Instagram three insane oil portraits of herself and ask her followers which one she should pick to hang in the South Dakota State Capitol. Luckily, Daddy Trump came to her rescue.

On Thursday, in an interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker, Trump said he didn’t “know anything about” the new FEMA rule and praised Noem for being “right on the ball,” doing a “great job,” and for quickly…getting herself on TV.

“We were right on time. We were there,” he said. “In fact, she was the first one I saw on television.” Never forget that, for this former reality TV star, being on TV is the most important thing.

“She was there right from the beginning, and she would not have needed anything,” he continued. “She had the right to do it, but she was literally the first person I saw on television. That morning, when we all woke up and saw this tragedy that took place during the evening.” This is a perfect sentence from a person definitely not experiencing mental decline.

For the next deadly natural disaster, FEMA should just send its requests straight to Fox  &  Friends.

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