Kristi Noem's Pricey Rolex Might Be Her Most Controversial Accessory Ever Worn

Kristi Noem's career as the head of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has come to an end; the final straw appears to have been Noem's claims that Donald Trump supported a controversial DHS ad campaign. But even though she's out of that office, we'll always have the memories of Noem's MAGA cowgirl stunts and other confusing cosplay moments during her time at DHS. From a cowboy hat on camera to bold earrings paired with a Border Patrol outfit, Noem had no shortage of baffling outfit and accessory choices. But one sartorial choice stands out as perhaps the most controversial of all: Noem wearing an over $50,000 gold Rolex watch to stand in front of prisoners in El Salvador.

Eagle eyed observers on X determined that Noem was likely wearing a Cosmograph Daytona. Apparently Barron Trump owns a similar watch, per Page Six. But he hasn't worn it while touring the Terrorist Confinement Center known as CECOT in El Salvador the way that Noem did for her March 2025 visit. There were some people who didn't see any problems with her wearing the watch. "She's independently wealthy, unlike the overwhelming majority of government. She can wear whatever she wants," one person posted on X.

But there were others who think that she was making a point by wearing the watch. Brynn Wallner, who founded Dimepiece, told The New York Times that this watch makes a clear statement. "If you're buying it, you're flaunting the fact that you can even get one. ... It's a flex piece. It's a signifier of wealth. It's not subtle at all."

The overall optics of Kristi Noem's high-end watch weren't that great. "This is an administration that is trying to be populist, anti-elite, appeal to the common man," Adam Isacson, Director for Defense Oversight with the Washington Office on Latin America, told The Washington Post in March 2025. "You're in front of all these people in a very poor country, who are in the bottom 10 or 20 percent of their country ... and it looks like you're just flaunting your wealth while you flaunt your freedom."

Noem's office was asked about the watch after she wore it in El Salvador, and they said she bought the watch with money from her book sales to have "an item she could wear and one day pass down to her children," according to The New York Times.

Some other notable moments where Noem wore the controversial watch include a visit to Texas after the catastrophic floods in July 2025, and a few months later during a visit to a prison in Louisiana that was being used to detain immigrants. So it would appear to almost be her everyday watch; Noem certainly seems to live a lavish lifestyle for a public servant. It's not that people begrudge her having a nice watch in general, just that it seems a bit tasteless to be showing off a watch that's worth as much or more than some people make in a year.