Everything That Went Wrong For The Women In Trump's Cabinet During His Second Term (So Far)

Donald Trump's second term seems to have been especially unkind to the women in his Cabinet. In 2025, as The Guardian reported, Trump publicly defended his Cabinet. "I think my Cabinet is fantastic," he said at the time. "I read these same stories that I'm unhappy with this one or that one – and I'm not. I think the cabinet has done a great job ... We have just a fantastic cabinet." But "fantastic" has often seemed conditional for members of his team, particularly the women who've been expected to navigate the tightrope of managing Trump's impulses while also shielding him from criticism. 

Not that the men have escaped unscathed (Stephen Miller remains a figure most politicians want nothing to do with), but when it comes time to swing the axe, there's a noticeable pattern in where it lands. Kristi Noem, ousted. Pam Bondi, gone. Tulsi Gabbard? Hovering under speculation. From accusations of not doing enough to failing to toe the line on policy messaging, women in this administration have been removed often under the shadow of disappointment.

It's hardly surprising that this scrutiny of Trump's treatment of women is weighed against his years of controversy regarding misogyny. From his infamous comments caught on tape during the Access Hollywood tape scandal, to documented sexist remarks that HuffPost cataloged during his presidential campaigns, the attitude toward women in Trump's orbit has long been a contentious topic. And lest anyone forget, his time as the owner of the Miss Universe pageant featured its own troubling allegations of inappropriate behavior. While those allegations may be more personal, the professional fallout mirrors the same dynamics of control and conditional worthiness.

Kristi Noem's departure from the Department of Homeland Security was far from smooth. In March 2026, Trump announced on Truth Social that Noem was out as Secretary of Homeland Security and that Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin would replace her. The move came after bruising congressional hearings that put her spending and management decisions under a spotlight, including sharp questions about a roughly $220 million DHS media campaign. According to The New York Times, DHS funds were used to purchase two private jets costing $172 million for Noem's use. Coupled with reports of $640,000 in state-funded travel expenses and over $60,000 spent on lavish upgrades to the South Dakota governor's mansion, Noem's financial decisions left a trail of questions about her priorities.

During the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in March 2026, Noem was also pressed on the long-running affair rumors with Corey Lewandowski. According to The New York Post, Noem's evasive response to whether she had physical relations with the "special government employee" left many stunned and all but sealed her fate. One source close to the White House added that it was the "final straw" for Trump, who had been growing frustrated with her leadership even before the scandal broke. Soon after, Noem was demoted to a position as special envoy for an initiative Trump dubbed "The Shield of the Americas."

Despite her removal, Noem defended her tenure in DHS on X, stating: "As Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas, I will build on the years of national security expertise I forged during my time as Secretary of Homeland Security, Governor of South Dakota, and Congresswoman on the House Armed Services Committee."

After Kristi Noem, the axe did not stay on the shelf for long. Pam Bondi's tenure as U.S. Attorney General ended on April 2, 2026, making her the second high-profile cabinet departure in a matter of weeks. Trump announced her firing on Truth Social, calling Pam Bondi a "Great American Patriot." He also wrote, "Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown in Crime across our Country, with Murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900." In the same post, Trump confirmed that Todd Blanche, his former personal criminal defense lawyer turned deputy attorney general, would take over as acting AG. 

According to CBS, Trump's frustration with Bondi had been building for months. She could not produce indictments against the people he wanted indicted — New York Attorney General Letitia James, Senator Mark Kelly, Senator Elissa Slotkin. Then there was the Epstein mess. Bondi had publicly stated that a client list tied to the Jeffrey Epstein case was on her desk for review. The DOJ later claimed that no such incriminating list had actually turned up (via PBS).

In her response, Bondi sought to frame the departure as part of a smooth transition. On X, she wrote, "Over the next month I will be working tirelessly to transition the office of Attorney General to the amazing Todd Blanche before moving to an important private sector role I am thrilled about, and where I will continue fighting for President Trump and this Administration."

Karoline Leavitt, President Donald Trump's White House press secretary, has a job that mostly depends on one person staying amused, and lately that looks less certain as she could become the next casualty. As reported by People, during an Oval Office press conference on March 31, 2026, Trump complained about what he described as relentlessly negative media coverage, saying, "I got 93% bad publicity, some people say 97, but between 93 and 97." He then put Leavitt on the spot, adding, "Maybe Karoline's doing a poor job, I don't know." Trump did say he would keep her in the role, at least for now. "Shall we keep her? I think we'll keep her," he said. The little performance left the obvious question hanging.

The moment also clashes with how Trump has talked about Leavitt before. In October 2025, he told reporters aboard Air Force One that she would never be replaced, saying, "It'll never happen. That face... and those lips." Trump further added, "They move like a machine gun, right?" (via The Independent).

Leavitt, for her part, has not been shy about returning the flattery when she has the microphone. At a White House press briefing in August 2025, she praised Trump in similarly over-the-top terms. "President Trump has brokered on average about one peace deal or ceasefire per month during his six months in office," she claimed. "It's well past time that President Trump was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize" (via ABC).

The rise and fall of Kristi Noem had been a sight to see, and then it found a new way to unravel in March 2026. She had been pushed out of DHS, had just endured a Senate hearing where she refused to plainly deny the Corey Lewandowski allegations, and she had to do it with her husband, Bryon Noem, seated up front for the whole spectacle. Any hope of letting the moment pass quietly vanished at the end of March when the Daily Mail published a report about her husband. According to the outlet, Bryon allegedly kept a private online persona as "Jason Jackson," contacting women while posing in booty shorts and a balloon-stuffed shirt.

The Daily Mail also alleged that Bryon shared his "bimbofication" fantasies and talked about eventually living publicly as a woman. Shortly after, Noem's team issued a response to The New York Post, stating, "Ms. Noem is devastated. The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at the time."

The reporting also revisited the Lewandowski rumors that have followed Noem for years. One woman, who claimed she had been messaging with Bryon, told the Daily Mail that she had asked him directly about the affair speculation after seeing it in the news. "I asked him about it, and his response was, 'I know. There's nothing I can do about it,'" she said. A family member told The New York Post that Bryon Noem had long viewed his role as a duty. "He said he decided about 20 years ago that it was his calling from God to support her in whatever she decided to do," the family member said. "So he has put up with the humiliation. We will see if he sticks with her now."

Alina Habba's appointment as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey was doomed from the moment it started, and the courts made sure everyone had to acknowledge that fact. The former personal attorney for Donald Trump resigned as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey on December 8, 2025. The controversy had been brewing since July 2025, when a federal district judge ruled that she had been serving "without lawful authority" (via CBS). The Third Circuit Court upheld that conclusion and stated that her continued service violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

Habba announced her resignation in a post on X, writing, "As a result of the Third Circuit's ruling, and to protect the stability and integrity of the office which I love, I have decided to step down in my role as the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey." In a statement obtained by The Guardian, she added, "Make no mistake, you can take the girl out of New Jersey, but you cannot take New Jersey out of the girl."

As PBS reported, her appointment in March 2025 was controversial from the start. She lacked prior prosecutorial experience, and New Jersey's Democratic senators signaled they would block her confirmation. Even after her initial 120-day term expired, the Trump administration relied on a series of legal maneuvers to keep her in the acting role.

Alina Habba has spent the last year under sustained attention, and it's hard not to see that visibility as one factor in the changes in her personal life. The one-time acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey finalized her divorce from her second husband, millionaire Gregg Reuben, in February 2026. Friends of Habba celebrated the split, with one source telling the New York Post that she was "lucky enough to leave a man not worth sharing a life with." Another close friend added, "Alina is constantly working and running, traveling — the woman doesn't stop, I've never seen anything quite like it. She's a machine."

Habba and Reuben were last pictured together inside the White House in December 2025, but the Instagram post has since been deleted. Following the divorce, Habba relocated to Palm Beach, Florida, near Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump's private political headquarters. After Pam Bondi's dismissal as DHS Secretary in April 2026, Habba hinted at career ambitions of her own, sharing a photo on Instagram with Trump and Vice President JD Vance in the Oval Office, captioned, "Always an honor."

When Donald Trump took office in January 2025, Susie Wiles made history as the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. But that milestone quickly got buried after she reportedly dished on Trump's inner circle to Vanity Fair. Among the most striking lines attributed to her was a description of Trump as having "an alcoholic's personality." Trump later defended Wiles in an interview with the New York Post: "I have said that many times about myself, I do. It's a very possessive personality." The president also told the New York Post he hadn't read the Vanity Fair story but insisted Wiles is "fantastic."

The article also attributed to Wiles a harsh, oddly specific take on Elon Musk: "He's an avowed ketamine [user]. And he sleeps in a sleeping bag in the EOB [Executive Office Building] in the daytime. And he's an odd, odd duck, as I think geniuses are. You know, it's not helpful, but he is his own person." Wiles denied making the specific claim about Musk's ketamine use, but, according to The Daily Beast, interviewer Chris Whipple said he had a recording of the conversation.

The Vanity Fair reporting also quoted her on JD Vance: "And the vice president, who's been a conspiracy theorist for a decade." In response to the fallout, Wiles fired back on X, calling Vanity Fair's reporting a "disingenuously framed hit piece." She also claimed that much of what she said was stripped of context. "None of this will stop our relentless pursuit of Making America Great Again!" she wrote.

Dr. Susan Monarez's time as CDC director was over almost as quickly as it began. Confirmed on July 29, 2025, she was removed less than a month later. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) offered little public rationale beyond a brief announcement on X: "Susan Monarez is no longer director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We thank her for her dedicated service to the American people." Monarez's attorneys, Mark Zaid and Abbe Lowell, accused the Trump administration of punishing her for standing on scientific principle. "When CDC Director Susan Monarez refused to rubber-stamp unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. For that, she has been targeted," they argued in a statement shared with PBS.

White House spokesperson Kush Desai offered a different explanation. According to an email shared with the Washington Post, Desai said: "As her attorney's statement makes abundantly clear, Susan Monarez is not aligned with the President's agenda of Making America Healthy Again. Since Susan Monarez refused to resign despite informing HHS leadership of her intent to do so, the White House has terminated Monarez from her position with the CDC," he wrote.

While the firing was messy, her confirmation hadn't exactly been smooth sailing either. Monarez was Trump's backup choice after his first nominee, David Weldon, withdrew over concerns about his anti-vaccine stance. Even Monarez, during her hearing, danced carefully around the controversial vaccine views of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The fallout from Susan Monarez's firing as CDC Director in August 2025 sent ripples through the agency, and for many, it signaled a breaking point. "We knew ... if she leaves, we don't have scientific leadership anymore," Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC's former Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Director for Program and Science, told The Associated Press. Just weeks later, Houry herself stepped down.

During a Senate hearing in September 2025, Houry made her reasons clear: "I resigned because CDC leaders were reduced to rubber stamps, supporting policies not based in science and putting American lives at risk. Secretary Kennedy censored CDC science, politicized its processes, and stripped leaders of independence. I could not, in good conscience, remain under those conditions" (via PBS).

She voiced particular frustration over changes to the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine guidance. "CDC scientists have still not seen the scientific data or justification for this change. That is not gold standard science," she said about the decision to stop recommending vaccines for healthy children and pregnant women.

Despite stepping away from their federal posts, neither Houry nor Monarez retreated from public health entirely. Houry was recognized for her expertise and advocacy, delivering the keynote address at Morehouse School of Medicine's Winter Commencement in December 2025. Monarez, meanwhile, has played a vital role in California's health initiatives, advising the Public Health Network Innovation Exchange as its Strategic Health Technology and Funding Advisor. With their departure, the CDC's institutional independence has come into question.

Tulsi Gabbard's tenure as Director of National Intelligence may perpetually hover on shaky ground. According to the Guardian, Trump began polling his Cabinet to gauge support for removing Gabbard, though no clear successor was identified. The reporting ties Trump's frustration to Gabbard's congressional testimony about the war in Iran. During that hearing, she declined to condemn Joe Kent — her former chief of staff and the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center — who resigned after arguing the administration didn't have a solid justification for continuing the conflict.

Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration excluded Gabbard from key decisions, including U.S. efforts to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. While confirming his confidence in her during a press gaggle on Air Force One, Trump acknowledged their differences: "I mean she's a little bit different in her thought process than me, but that doesn't make somebody not available to serve. I would say that I'm very strong in the fact that I don't want Iran to have a nuclear weapon... I think she's a little softer on that issue." (via The Hill). 

Gabbard remained publicly silent on the speculation but has communicated through her spokesperson, Olivia Coleman, who downplayed the controversy. Coleman emphasized that Trump has praised Gabbard's performance, saying "she did well at her hearings before Congress" (via International Business Times).