Kristi Noem’s most devoted aide finds herself without job offers from major conservative media platforms, including Fox News, following her exit from the Department of Homeland Security. Her departure was clouded by corruption allegations linked to a $220 million advertising initiative.

Tricia McLaughlin, formerly the leading spokeswoman for DHS, left her position shortly before Kristi Noem’s dismissal. According to the Daily Mail, McLaughlin has since reached out to Fox News, expressing interest in becoming a contributor.

The 31-year-old has also sought opportunities with Newsmax and Real America’s Voice but has yet to receive any formal offers from these networks.

McLaughlin’s departure from DHS in February followed a report revealing her husband, Ben Yoho, had secretly profited from a no-bid government contract. This contract involved creating border control advertisements featuring Noem, raising ethical concerns.

Despite her past strong ties with Fox News during her tenure at DHS, McLaughlin’s association with the network has not translated into job prospects following Noem’s high-profile dismissal by Donald Trump, according to insiders.

“Fox is quite selective and tends to avoid entanglements with potential controversies,” an insider shared with the Daily Mail.

At the center of the brewing storm is McLaughlin’s husband, Yoho, whose Strategy Group company received hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce an ad campaign featuring Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore in October 2025.

His firm was paid through the ad campaign as a sub-contractor, raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs for the Department of Homeland Security, in Washington, DC, on January 22

Group, which is owned by McLaughlin’s husband, received hundreds of thousands of dollars for producing a series of ads including one featuring Noem on a horse at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial during a government shutdown in October 2025

At the center of the brewing storm is McLaughlin’s husband, Ben Yoho, whose Strategy Group company received hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce an ad campaign featuring Noem on horseback at Mount Rushmore in October 2025

The 31-year-old has also approached Newsmax and Real America’s Voice, though she has not received a formal offer from any of the networks

Noem faced an intense grilling from Louisiana Senator John Kennedy over the ad after claiming Trump had personally approved the lavish taxpayer-funded campaign.

Trump swiftly shot down those claims and she was fired within hours, becoming the first cabinet casualty of his second term.

The DHS inspector general’s office has now launched an official investigation into how the contract was awarded.

A DHS spokesman previously said: ‘DHS has no involvement with the selection of subcontractors.’

The Daily Mail has contacted Fox News and McLaughlin for comment.

McLaughlin was a prominent feature on Fox during her tenure at Homeland, appearing on the network during their primetime coverage multiple times a week.

‘Tricia really knows her ‘STUFF!’ Trump wrote on Truth Social in December following one of her appearances.

Fox has a history of hiring former Trump officials as on-air personalities, including the president’s ex-press secretaries Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany.

McLaughlin has had to perform crisis PR work for herself and her husband while pursuing a new media role. 

McLaughlin has pushed back against numerous journalists and some Republican influencers on social media, demanding they update stories and posts to remove any references to wrongdoing or corruption.

Yoho, meanwhile, is continuing to do work for a network of Republicans in his home state of Ohio, where McLaughlin also grew up

Sources told the Daily Mail that Tricia McLaughlin, the former top spokesperson for Kristi Noem who left DHS in February, has reached out to Fox News about joining the network as a contributor but does not have an offer

‘Fox is pretty picky, and they don’t like to deal with drama,’ one insider told the Daily Mail.

While pursuing a new media gig, McLaughlin has had to focus much of her attention lately performing crisis PR work for herself and her husband

Her attempts to salvage her reputation after Noem’s humiliating ouster from Trump’s cabinet have been met with a muted response from the White House, which has not publicly defended the couple

Yoho, meanwhile, is continuing to do work for a network of Republicans in his home state of Ohio, where McLaughlin also grew up.

His firm is working on the Ohio House congressional campaign for former ICE deputy director Madison Sheahan, a longtime Noem loyalist who fled the department prior to Tricia’s resignation.

Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ohio gubernatorial campaign has also hired Yoho’s firm to produce its first commercial, released Thursday, amid the couple’s swirling scandal, the Daily Mail has learned. 

Yoho and McLaughlin met initially as staffers on Ramaswamy’s short-lived presidential campaign during the 2024 presidential cycle. The couple celebrated their wedding last summer.