Trump Fires Back At GOP ‘Losers’ Demanding Noem’s Removal

President Donald Trump blasted Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) as “losers” after the two Republicans called for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid scrutiny over Minneapolis immigration operations that resulted in the fatal shooting of a leftist protester.

“Well, they’re both losers. You know, what can I tell you? They’re terrible senators. One is gone and the other should be gone,” he told ABC News on Wednesday morning, referring to Tillis’s announcement last year that he would not seek re-election.

“In the meantime, I have a border that’s perfect – the strongest, one of the strongest borders anywhere in the world. We went from the weakest border in the world to one of the strongest borders in the world,” the president added. “So what Murkowski says –  she’s always against the Republicans anyway. And Tillis decided to drop out. So you know, he lost his voice once he did that.”

On Tuesday, the president said “no” outright when asked whether Noem would step down and that he stood by her performance, echoing similar sentiments about the border now being much calmer than under the Biden administration.

Murkowski and Tillis have at times openly criticized the president, breaking with much of the GOP, as Democrats have predictably called for Noem’s removal in recent days.

“We would be better served with new leadership at [the] department,” Murkowski told MS NOW, noting that it’s ultimately up to the president to decide.

A DHS spokesperson slammed Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) after he called for Noem to be “immediately fired” on Tuesday.

“DHS enforces the laws Congress passes, period. If certain members don’t like those laws, changing them is literally their job,” the department said in a statement to The Daily Wire.

Still, a government shutdown looms as a larger fight over DHS funding brews — and Democrats in Congress have indicated that a change in leadership is not enough to change course, instead hoping for serious immigration policy changes.

Several Democrats, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have urged Senate Republicans to separate DHS funding from the broader spending package to limit the impact of a potential shutdown, a move widely viewed as unlikely to succeed. Any changes to DHS funding or other provisions would require the legislation to return to the House of Representatives, which has already approved the spending bills and is out of session this week. Even if the Senate reaches an agreement on amended legislation, the House’s absence makes a government shutdown on Friday increasingly likely.

The fatal shooting of Alex Pretti intensified internal debates over leadership and execution of Trump’s immigration agenda over the weekend, prompting the White House to deploy border czar Tom Homan to Minneapolis. Homan was tasked with coordinating and communicating with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, both Democrats, on a path forward in the region.

Trump told ABC News, “We’d like to finish the job and finish it well, and I think we can do it in a de-escalated form. A lot of the hardest work is already done.” However, he warned in a Truth Social post on Wednesday that Frey is “PLAYING WITH FIRE,” to which Frey replied on X that “the job of [Minneapolis] police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws.”

DHS’ Operation Metro Surge has resulted in thousands of arrests of people in the country illegally, including those with other criminal charges and convictions.