How Kristi Noem & Corey Lewandowski Accidentally Exposed Rumored Affair To Trump

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is no stranger to controversy, so it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that she's reportedly not going to great lengths to keep her rumored affair with former Trump campaign manager and her unofficial chief of staff, Corey Lewandowski, under wraps, despite them both being married. In fact, the two are apparently so indiscreet that even President Donald Trump picked up on the romantic vibes, and it was all thanks to a sparkling beverage.

A source who spoke to the New York Post claimed the president was aghast at the two sharing a can of soda (Trump has been open about his germaphobia). Upon seeing the two splitting the beverage, he reportedly said, "You can't do that, it's pretty obvious! You can't do that, everyone's going to know!" Apparently, Trump tells this story to anyone who will listen. "That's his go-to story. He says that frequently about them," the source continued. Trump, whose unfiltered thoughts have insulted people right in front of him on numerous occasions, somehow managed to employ the unreliable filter between his mouth and his brain when journalists asked him about Noem and Lewandowski's rumored affair on Air Force One in February 2026.

The reporter in question wanted to know whether the president thought the affair gossip was "a bad look." Trump played dumb. "I don't know about that. I mean, I haven't heard that, but ... I'll find out about it, but I have not heard about it," the president babbled, per DWS News. Sources all indicate the president is well aware of the purported affair. In fact, insiders told The Atlantic in February 2025 that Trump is the reason Lewandowski wasn't appointed as Noem's chief of staff, because he knew of their rumored relationship.

Kristi Noem has racked up plenty of inappropriate moments as secretary of Homeland Security, and it seems she's determined to add more to the list. Rumors about her alleged affair with Corey Lewandowski got legs when he was caught popping in and out of her apartment in Washington, D.C., by snooping photographers for the Daily Mail in April 2025. The two lived across from each other, and residents in the area all but confirmed the affair to the outlet, with one divulging, "I've seen them together here both in the elevator and in common areas. ... It is an open secret that they are together."

Then there's The Wall Street Journal's expose on the duo's conduct as they turn the DHS on its head, which was published in February 2026. Sources said Noem and Lewandowski had taken to traveling in a 737 MAX jet, which has a private cabin as one of its amenities. Talk show host Stephen Colbert joked on "The Late Show" that the Journal's piece is "the kind of article that gets published only if everyone who works for you cannot wait to tell a reporter just how awful you are." And indeed, Noem and Lewandowski's reign of terror is apparently very real, with the couple reportedly firing DHS employees left and right.

As for their living arrangements, in 2026, sources told the New York Post Noem and Lewandowski practically live together at the house she moved into the year prior (following the photo scandal). One insider said, "if living means spending nights regularly." Those who spoke to the Journal concurred that Lewandowski is sometimes at Noem's residence. The rumored couple is many things, but discreet isn't one of them.