Kristi Noem marked a symbolic milestone in Pierre on Friday as a life-sized bronze statue commemorating her time as South Dakota governor was formally unveiled — though two prominent figures in her personal orbit were noticeably missing from the ceremony.
The former Homeland Security secretary appeared with her mother and grandchildren beside the new sculpture, which captures Noem in a familiar public image: a smiling but resolute cowgirl standing next to her cherished horse, “Iceman.”
Noem led South Dakota from 2019 until January 2025, when she left the governor’s office to take a role in the Trump administration.
The statue, designed by sculptor John Lopez, now joins Pierre’s Trail of Governors, the public art collection honoring the state’s former chief executives throughout the capital city.
“Well, thank you all for coming today,” Noem said brightly as she addressed supporters gathered on the South Dakota State Capitol grounds.
“I will admit that I thought with everybody’s busy schedules and everything, there was this little thing in the back of my head wondering if anybody would come to the celebration,” she added.
Absent from the unveiling was longtime aide Corey Lewandowski, who has been the subject of alleged romance speculation involving Noem and was photographed earlier in the week appearing affectionate with her at a Minnesota restaurant.
Her husband, Bryon Noem, also did not attend the public ceremony.
Kristi Noem was seen celebrating the unveiling of a life-size bronze statue of herself alongside her mother and grandchildren on Friday
The installation is the newest addition to the Trail of Governors that adorn Pierre, South Dakota
She later took to X to gush over the ‘special day.’
‘Today the Trail of Governors Committee unveiled my official statue and portrait on the state capitol grounds – and my grandchildren did the honors. Everywhere I looked, there were people I loved who have stood by our family as we served the people of SD. Thank you Jesus for your faithfulness,’ she wrote.
The ex-governor’s mother told the Daily Mail last month that her daughter is now seeking a divorce, explaining that his cross-dressing scandal proved to be the unbearable final blow to their 34-year-marriage.
‘It has been difficult, but we knew this was coming, that they were going to get divorced,’ Corinne Arnold, 77, said during a sit-down interview at her home.
Each statue tells the story of that governor during their lifetime or service to the state, the Trial of Governors Foundation states in a release.
A bronze plaque at each statue acknowledges the contributors and a QR code allows visitors to read and listen to the governor’s biography.
C-Span posted video of the ceremony on X, drawing predictable heckles.
One reply featured an AI-altered statue depicting Noem shooting a dog, a reference to her admitted killing of her overly aggressive dog Cricket.
Noem was joined by her mother Corinne, children, and grandchildren, but her husband Bryon Noem, and long-rumored lover Corey Lewandowski were noticeably absent
Noem shared photos of the special moment on social media, noting that ‘everywhere she looked there were people I loved who have stood by our family’
Days earlier, Noem and Corey Lewandowski were snapped getting cozy during a lunch date at The Grocer’s Table in Wayzata, a wealthy suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Noem served in the state legislature and in Congress, before being elected governor.
Noem’s mother told the Daily Mail that she last saw Bryon and Kristi together at a particularly awkward family birthday in late spring, just weeks after the news broke.
‘This was a big party where the whole family was there, Kristi and Bryon, all my kids, all my grandkids,’ Arnold said.
‘Bryon was holding and hugging the kids,’ she recounted. ‘It seemed like the old Bryon.
‘He was very nice,’ she added. ‘I hugged him, told him I loved him and he said the same.’
She also broached a difficult subject with her daughter at the party.
‘She doesn’t tell me what she thinks,’ the mom said. ‘Finally, I said: ‘What’s the deal? Are you going to get together again?’
‘And she said: “No. No. We’re going to get a divorce”.’
In April, the Daily Mail reported that Bryon Noem, 56, had been actively participating in the bimbofication scene and published photos of him in fake breasts and hot pink pants
Last month, the Daily Mail revealed Bryon Noem’s scandal proved to be the unbearable final blow to couple’s 34-year marriage
Kristi Noem’s own mother shared the sobering news of the divorce, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail in July
Bryon, who packed up and left home after the Daily Mail exclusive broke, is now living 20 miles away, while still running an insurance agency.
Noem and Lewandowski were pictured earlier this week along the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Wayzata, Minnesota.
In images obtained by the Daily Mail, the two were seen cozying up to one another as they ate at an outdoor restaurant on Tuesday before enjoying a bike ride along the waterfront.
Both Noem, 54, and Lewandowski, 52, dressed casually for their outing in the wealthy Minneapolis suburb – with the former Secretary of Homeland Security donning a flannel shirt and a floppy hat while Lewandowski opted for a tight black T-shirt and dark sunglasses.
At one point during their outing, Noem was seen looking at something on her beau’s phone and laughing as they waited for food at The Grocer’s Table cafe.
‘Kristi and Corey are closer than ever,’ an insider told the Daily Mail after they were busted on the date-like outing.
‘Making the decision to hire a lawyer and file for divorce was difficult. Very difficult. She loves Bryon. Always will. She wants the best for him.
‘He’s the father of her children,’ the source said of Noem’s estranged husband who was caught up in a ‘bimbofication’ scandal.
Noem and Lewandowski have long been rumored to have a romantic relationship despite both being married
‘But Corey’s been there with her through thick and thin – both professionally and personally.
‘Who was there for her when she was let go by Trump, when the news about Bryon’s fetish went public? It was Corey. Whatever the future holds, they are devoted to one another.’
Noem and Lewandowski have previously denied they were in a relationship when the Daily Mail first revealed just how close the two were in a 2023 exposé.
But in March, Noem was ousted from Department of Homeland Security (DHS) by President Trump.
The former ‘ICE Barbie’ has since been reassigned to lead the Shield of the Americas, a newly created, much smaller agency in the State Department.
As she was still reeling from the ouster, the Daily Mail reported that Noem’s husband, Bryon, 56, had been actively participating online in the bimbofication scene.
He sent online fetish models compromising pictures of himself with balloons stuffed under women’s clothing imitating huge breasts.
As part of the investigation, the Daily Mail reviewed hundreds of messages involving three women from the ‘bimbofication’ scene – where porn performers transform themselves into real-life Barbie dolls by pumping colossal amounts of saline into their breasts.
Bryon has lavished praise on their surgically enhanced bodies, confessed his lust for ‘huge, huge ridiculous boobs’, and even made indiscreet remarks about his marriage to Kristi, our investigation disclosed.
