The Shady Relationship Rumor That Haunts Kristi Noem

Kristi Noem hasn't just stirred the pot for dressing like a teenager and proudly admitting to questionable actions like shooting a family dog. There are also a lot of things people find eerily strange about Noem's marriage — perhaps the most notorious being that the Secretary of Homeland Security is, according to The New York Post, allegedly had a long-running affair with former Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski. Although the two have publicly denied the allegations, since 2021, there have been continuous reports and speculations about their working and personal relationship. The chatter seems to intensify with each year that passes.

And the two can deny it all they want, but there are way too many sightings of the two to ignore. With exclusive reports from the Daily Mail in 2023 stating the two were actually once engaged, and in April 2025, when the the outlet shared exclusive photos of Lewandowski leaving Kristi Noem's D.C. apartment. A resident of the apartment building Kristi Noem resides in also told the DailyMail.com, "I've seen them [Noem and Lewandowski] together here both in the elevator and in common areas," which only added more fuel to the rumors.

For Noem, the continuous resurfacing of these rumors couldn't have negatively impacted her political career more. There was word that Noem was one of Donald Trump's top choices for running mate for the 2024 presidential election, but with the controversial confessions made in her book, "No Going Back" and the persistent gossip around her messy personal life, that opportunity slipped right through her fingers.

Kristi Noem isn't just notorious for making poor shoe choices that completely ruin her outfits, she also seems to be quite contradictory. Despite parading herself on Instagram as a woman who values family and God above anything, she doesn't seem to be ashamed to keep her alleged lover, Corey Lewandowski as close to her as possible. From sightings of the pair leaving her D.C. apartment to reports of the two being touchy in a hotel bar, the ICE Barbie just can't seem to catch a break from the rumored affair. But does she even want to? Instead of keeping distance, the pair continued to appear near each other through 2024, which means as of 2025, the rumored affair is blurring much more than moral lines. 

Despite having no official title at the Department of Homeland Security, Lewandowski has played a very important role over there. So important he's often seen right next to Noem on trips abroad and sitting in on high-level meetings. In fact, it's said that Lewandowski wields so much power in the department that an inside source told CNN, "He's the de facto chief of staff in the department. Everyone is terrified of him because he has almost singular authority to fire people." And although Lewandowski denies it, he's even said to have been the individual to set up Noem's tour of Palantir that helped them land a multi-billion dollar military deal. At this point, affair or no affair, these two are running quite the tight ship together and that's a bit concerning.