"(AP Photo/Alex Brandon) Loyalists raged when President-elect Donald Trump handed obviously unqualified Kristi Noem the Homeland Security cabinet role as a favor in one of countless knives-out battles that reportedly defined a chaotic transition process, a bombshell new book claims. Retribution: Donald Trump and the Campaign That Changed America, an upcoming expose by ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl, captures a gladiatorial swirl of loyalty tests and backstabbing that shaped Trump's earliest cabinet decisions."
"However, Noem's surprise nomination, Karl writes, was made not for competence but reportedly as a favor to a man she has denied having a long-rumored affair with. Karl writes: When a surprised Trump adviser asked the president-elect why he had decided to nominate Noem to be secretary of Homeland Security, he had a simple answer. I did it for Corey,' he said. It's the only thing Corey asked me for.'"
"Speaking to Karl for the book, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon shredded Noem's nomination as a national security risk. We still got the global war on terror. She runs the whole thing? She runs the f*cking Secret Service? It's all of it. It's the global war on terror. It's all that. What are you talking about? She's never been in law enforcement! Bannon told Karl."
President-elect Donald Trump nominated South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem for Homeland Security despite her lack of law enforcement experience. The nomination stemmed from a favor requested by former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski rather than from established transition-team vetting. The choice provoked fury among advisers and allies who viewed it as a national security risk. Former chief strategist Steve Bannon strongly criticized the appointment, questioning Noem's qualifications to oversee counterterrorism and the Secret Service. Other figures ran the cabinet search informally, with billionaire Howard Lutnick conducting searches at Mar-a-Lago that resembled casting calls. The transition process included loyalty tests, backstabbing, and chaotic personnel decisions.
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