TOP GOON

With the help of her closest adviser, Corey Lewandowski, Kristi Noem has turned DHS into Trump's most devastating weapon against the right's enemies.

- BEN TERRIS

Kristi Noem speaks at the "Louisiana Lockup" facility in Angola.

ON THE MORNING of May 7, before making his way to Capitol Hill to testify in front of Congress, Cameron Hamilton, then the acting administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, packed up his office. He assumed his boss, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, would fire him once she got wind of what he planned on telling lawmakers. It turned out he was right about getting fired but wrong about who would deliver the blow.

Hamilton is a former Navy SEAL with a close-cropped beard and perfect posture. He is a MAGA true believer who served in the State Department during Donald Trump's first administration and ran for Congress in Virginia with the backing of the conservative Freedom Caucus super-PAC in 2024. He lost his primary, but after Trump won the presidency, Noem offered him the opportunity to run FEMA. He soon found himself crosswise with not only Noem but also her de facto chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski, a combative veteran of Trumpworld's internecine battles.