Donald Trump tore into a pair of Republican senators who are calling for the ouster of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem as tensions simmer over violent and deadly immigration enforcement in Minnesota. The President said Senators Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska are 'losers' and that the former 'lost his voice' by deciding not to run for reelection. 'You know, what can I tell you? They're terrible senators,' Trump told ABC News. 'One is gone and the other should be gone.' Both senators have broken with Trump on several issues over the last year, and both have called for Noem to step down after losing confidence in her ability to lead federal immigration operations.

A Daily Mail/JL Partners poll taken this week showed Noem suffering from a dreadful 33 percent approval rating. Other GOP lawmakers are speaking off the record about how they are worried protests will only lead to more bloodshed, and that the party has squandered the best issue they had going for them in the 2026 midterms. One unnamed senator told Politico that immigration is a 'home game' for Republicans, much like health care is for Democrats. But instead of images of migrants flooding over the border, the viral scenes now show Americans being shot in broad daylight.

First, it was poet and mother Renee Good, who was shot through the windshield of her vehicle by an ICE agent whom she clipped with her car. Just over two weeks later, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse at a VA hospital, was shot by a DHS agent in a street tussle. Both incidents occurred in Minnesota. Democrats have already floated impeaching Noem, and those calls only intensified this month amid her botched response to the deaths of American citizens at the hands of her agents. 'So what Murkowski says – she's always against the Republicans anyway,' Trump dismissed.

'And Tillis decided to drop out. So you know, he lost his voice once he did that.' On Tuesday, Tillis expressed a complete loss of confidence in Noem and described her actions at the helm of DHS as 'amateurish' and 'incompetent.' 'What she's done in Minnesota should be disqualifying. She should be out of a job,' he told reporters on Capitol Hill. 'I think she's out of her depth.' He said Noem is making Trump 'look bad on policies that he won on,' and called for the administration to 'treat these communities with some respect.'

When asked about Trump calling him a 'loser,' the senator replied: 'I am thrilled about that.' 'That makes me qualified to be homeland security secretary and senior adviser to the president,' he added, referencing Noem and Trump's Homeland Security advisor Stephen Miller. Murkowski, whose current term is not up until the 2028 election, said while she voted to confirm Noem she thinks it is time for the president to replace her.

'I would not support her again. And I think it probably is time for her to step down,' the Alaska senator said, adding Noem should be held accountable for the 'chaos and some of the tragedy' in Minneapolis. Her actions, like calling Pretti a 'domestic terrorist,' Murkowski says, 'has not been helpful to the situation.' Trump stripped Noem of her internal immigration enforcement role, according to reports that emerged this week. Instead, he wants her focusing on the border.

The president deployed White House 'border czar' Tom Homan to Minneapolis on Monday to take over the situation and be the point-person for enforcement in the northern border state. Asked on Tuesday when leaving for remarks in Iowa whether Noem would be stepping down, Trump shook his head and simply stated: 'No.'