Saturday, July 11, 2026
Vol. VIII
Est. 2019

The Mind Shield

News · Opinion · Politics · Analysis

Kristi Noem plans to divorce her husband after cross-dressing scandal.

Kristi Noem plans to divorce her husband after cross-dressing scandal.
Kristi Noem and her husband, Bryon. Photo: Bryon Noem/ Instagram

Former Department of Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem is reportedly divorcing her husband, Bryon Noem, after his cross-dressing scandal.

Kristi Noem’s mother, Corinne Arnold, told the Daily Mail that her daughter plans to end her 34-year marriage to Bryon.

“It has been difficult, but we knew this was coming, that they were going to get divorced,” Arnold said, adding that Bryon recently moved out of the family home in Castlewood, South Dakota, and that she last saw the couple together at a family birthday in late spring.

“I feel bad, sick that they’re getting a divorce, but what else can you do?” Arnold said.

Arnold said that her daughter confided her plans in late spring, shortly after the Daily Mail published a report detailing that Bryon was linked to a cross-dressing and “bimbofication” fetish. The outlet revealed photos of him wearing exaggerated feminine clothing, enormous fake breasts, and allegedly paying thousands of dollars to online fetish models.

Noem said at the time that she was “blindsided” by the revelations in the report.

Arnold also dismissed allegations that Noem had a years-long affair with former Trump campaign official Corey Lewandowski, calling the allegations “a bunch of crap.”

“Kristi would never do that. That’s not how I brought my kids up,” she told the Daily Mail.

Trump fired Noem in March, before the Bryon story was published.

An administration official told NBC News at the time that Trump decided to fire Noem because of “a culmination of her many unfortunate leadership failures including the fallout in Minnesota, the ad campaign, the allegations of infidelity, the mismanagement of her staff, and her constant feuding with the heads of other agencies, including CBP and ICE.”

The official added: “Kristi’s drama sadly overshadowed and distracted from the Administration’s extremely popular immigration agenda, which will continue full force.”

Noem is currently serving as the special envoy for “The Shield of the Americas.”