Kristi Noem’s Former DHS Spokesperson Eyes High-Profile Role at Fox News

Kristi Noem’s most steadfast aide finds herself without prospects from conservative media, including Fox News, following her departure from the Department of Homeland Security amid corruption claims linked to a $220 million ad campaign.

Tricia McLaughlin, who served as the chief spokesperson for DHS and exited shortly before Kristi Noem’s termination, has reportedly reached out to Fox News to explore opportunities as a contributor, according to the Daily Mail.

The 31-year-old has also sought positions with Newsmax and Real America’s Voice but has not yet received any formal offers from these media outlets.

McLaughlin’s exit from DHS came in February, shrouded in controversy after a report surfaced about her husband, Ben Yoho, allegedly gaining from a no-bid, taxpayer-funded contract to create border control advertisements featuring Noem.

During her tenure at DHS, McLaughlin was a frequent presence on Fox News, but insiders suggest that her previous connections with the network have not aided her situation in the aftermath of Noem’s dramatic dismissal by Donald Trump.

‘Fox is pretty picky, and they don’t like to deal with drama,’ one insider told the Daily Mail.

At the center of the brewing storm is McLaughlin’s husband, Yoho, whose Strategy Group company received hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce an ad campaign featuring Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore in October 2025.

His firm was paid through the ad campaign as a sub-contractor, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, DC, on January 22

Group, which is owned by McLaughlin’s husband, received hundreds of thousands of dollars for producing a series of ads including one featuring Noem on a horse at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial during a government shutdown in October 2025

At the center of the brewing storm is McLaughlin’s husband, Ben Yoho, whose Strategy Group company received hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce an ad campaign featuring Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore in October 2025

The 31-year-old has also approached Newsmax and Real America’s Voice, though she has not received a formal offer from any of the networks

Noem faced an intense grilling from Louisiana Senator John Kennedy over the ad after claiming Trump had personally approved the lavish taxpayer-funded campaign.

Trump swiftly shot down those claims and she was fired within hours, becoming the first cabinet casualty of his second term.

The DHS inspector general’s office has now launched an official investigation into how the contract was awarded.

A DHS spokesman previously said: ‘DHS has no involvement with the selection of subcontractors.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Fox News and McLaughlin for comment.

McLaughlin was a prominent feature on Fox during her tenure at Homeland, appearing on the network during their primetime coverage multiple times a week.

‘Tricia really knows her ‘STUFF!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social in December following one of her appearances.

Fox has a history of hiring former Trump officials as on-air personalities, including the president’s ex-press secretaries Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany.

McLaughlin has had to perform crisis PR work for herself and her husband while pursuing a new media role. 

McLaughlin has pushed back against numerous journalists and some Republican influencers on social media, demanding they update stories and posts to remove any references to wrongdoing or corruption.

Yoho, meanwhile, is continuing to do work for a network of Republicans in his home state of Ohio, where McLaughlin also grew up

Sources told the Daily Mail that Tricia McLaughlin, the former top spokesperson for Kristi Noem who left DHS in February, has reached out to Fox News about joining the network as a contributor but does not have an offer

‘Fox is pretty picky, and they don’t like to deal with drama,’ one insider told the Daily Mail.

While pursuing a new media gig, McLaughlin has had to focus much of her attention lately performing crisis PR work for herself and her husband

Her attempts to salvage her reputation after Noem’s humiliating ouster from Trump’s cabinet have been met with a muted response from the White House, which has not publicly defended the couple

Yoho, meanwhile, is continuing to do work for a network of Republicans in his home state of Ohio, where McLaughlin also grew up.

His firm is working on the Ohio House congressional campaign for former ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan, a longtime Noem loyalist who fled the department prior to Tricia’s resignation.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ohio gubernatorial campaign has also hired Yoho’s firm to produce its first commercial, released Thursday, amid the couple’s swirling scandal, the Daily Mail has learned. 

Yoho and McLaughlin met initially as staffers on Ramaswamy’s short-lived presidential campaign during the 2024 presidential cycle. The couple celebrated their wedding last summer.