Noem, Lewandowski affair rumor resurfaced after WSJ report: What to know

In February 2026, a rumor resurfaced on social media claiming that U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was having an affair with Corey Lewandowski, a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump who has been described in some news reports as Noem’s “de facto chief of staff.” 

The posts cited a Feb. 12 Wall Street Journal report that discussed the pair’s rumored relationship. As of this writing, both Noem and Lewandowski are married with children, a detail highlighted in the online claims.

Multiple Snopes readers reached out to us and searched our website with questions about the alleged romantic relationship between Noem and Lewandowski.

The rumor has circulated online since at least September 2021, when the conservative website American Greatness reported (archived) that the two were allegedly involved in an extramarital affair, citing multiple anonymous sources.

It resurfaced two years later when British tabloid newspaper Daily Mail published an article (archived) claiming the pair had engaged in a yearslong “clandestine affair.” On the same day, MeidasTouch also published an article (archived) and Facebook post about the alleged romantic relationship, citing the Daily Mail’s reporting.

In September 2022, Lewandowski accepted a plea deal to resolve allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward a Republican Party donor at a Las Vegas event, as The Associated Press reported. The AP added that he did “not admit to any wrongdoing.” More recently, he has faced scrutiny in his role as a special government employee with DHS. 

Snopes was unable to independently verify whether Noem and Lewandowski were having or were ever engaged in an affair. Reports making the claim have primarily relied on anonymous sources — therefore, we were unable to scrutinize their allegations — and both of them have publicly denied the rumor on multiple occasions.

In an emailed response to Snopes, an unnamed DHS spokesperson said, “This Department doesn’t waste time with salacious, baseless gossip.” 

The White House referred us to comments Trump made during a Feb. 16, 2026, press gaggle, in which he suggested he was unaware of the rumored affair. 

Below is a breakdown of the reports about an alleged affair between Noem and Lewandowski.

Noem dismissed affair rumor after American Greatness report

On Sept. 28, 2021, American Greatness published a report (archived) citing anonymous sources who alleged Noem and Lewandowski had been involved in a monthslong relationship. One source reportedly told the conservative website that some members of Congress referred to the affair as “an open secret.”

American Greatness did not provide further details about the alleged affair in its article.

The following day, Noem, who was serving as South Dakota’s governor at the time, dismissed the rumor on Twitter (now X) by calling it “total garbage and a disgusting lie.” Multiple news media outlets reported her response.

(Twitter, now X)

“These old, tired attacks on conservative women are based on a falsehood that we can’t achieve anything without a man’s help,” Noem tweeted. “I love [my husband] Bryon. I’m proud of the God-fearing family we’ve raised together. Now I’m getting back to work.”

Daily Mail reports reignited speculation

In September 2023, the Daily Mail published an article (archived) claiming the pair had been engaged in a “years-long clandestine affair” that began “in 2019, if not before.”

According to the newspaper, neither Noem nor Lewandowski denied the affair when initially contacted. The outlet reported that Noem released a statement criticizing the article’s timing while Lewandowski did not respond to a request for comment. However, a spokesperson for Noem reportedly pushed back after the article was published, insisting the two never had an affair, the Daily Mail reported.

The British tabloid claimed that its investigation “uncovered extensive evidence” of a romantic relationship, including “dozens of trips that mixed business with pleasure, flights on donors’ private planes, and stays at luxury resorts where their intimacy was observed and noted.”

According to the Daily Mail, former Trump operative Charles Johnson described one such incident, writing in a Substack post that he had seen the pair behaving “in a very flirtatious manner” during an August 2020 meeting of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) at The Cloister resort on Sea Island, Georgia. Although it was not possible to find the exact post in which Johnson reportedly said this, he did post a Substack article in which he claimed Noem and Lewandowski “seemed to be dating” at the Sea Island event “despite being married to other people” (archived).

Johnson reportedly told the Daily Mail that he saw Noem “discreetly take Lewandowski’s hand and put it in her lap” as he “put his arm on her back.”

The newspaper alleged that the pair became “virtually inseparable companions on the Trump [2020] campaign trail” and that their relationship was an “open secret” at the White House and among GOP lobbyists and political consultants at the time.

In another example, the tabloid said Noem and Lewandowski attended the Republican Governors Association event at the St. Regis in Aspen, Colorado, in summer 2021. Sources reportedly told the paper that Noem missed several events she was expected to attend, with one person alleging she was “holed up” with Lewandowski at a nearby hotel.

However, it was not possible to independently verify the details in the Daily Mail article.

After the report was published, a spokesperson for Noem denied the allegation, calling it “false.” In a statement provided to Sioux Falls Live, a news media outlet based in South Dakota, Noem’s spokesperson also criticized the Daily Mail for allegedly failing to publish Noem’s denial of the affair and accused the outlet of relying on a reporter with a history of “questionable journalistic integrity.”

The statement read, in part:

It is shameful that Sioux Falls Live would report based on a false and inflammatory tabloid rumor. It was also false that Governor Noem did not deny the allegation to the Daily Mail. They failed to print the denial and failed to appropriately correct the story when that failure was pointed out to them.

As Governor Noem said during her endorsement speech for President Trump: ‘Yes, I will be attacked for speaking the truth to all of you tonight. Yes, I expect Joe Biden, these candidates, their political operatives, and the media will perpetuate ugly, hateful misinformation in an attempt to destroy me and my family because of my opinions. It’s nothing new. I’m getting used to it honestly.’

Unfortunately, the Daily Mail piece was par for the course for this individual’s history as a reporter with questionable journalistic integrity.

In April 2025, the Daily Mail published another report (archived) claiming Noem and Lewandowski were living in rental apartments located across the street from each other in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

A resident of Noem’s building reportedly told the tabloid: “I’ve seen them together here both in the elevator and in common areas.”

The Daily Mail also published photos that it claimed showed Lewandowski leaving Noem’s apartment complex with a duffel bag.

In April 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported that Lewandowski denied the alleged affair.

WSJ report further revives rumor

A Wall Street Journal report published on Feb. 12, 2026, revived rumors about Noem and Lewandowski’s relationship. 

According to the news outlet, the pair’s “close relationship had already made Trump and his top advisers uncomfortable.” The Wall Street Journal also reported that Lewandowski wanted to serve as Noem’s chief of staff, but “Trump rejected the idea due to reports of a romantic relationship between the two — which he has continued to bring up,” citing unnamed officials. 

The report further claimed that Lewandowski spends time at Noem’s government-owned waterfront home on a military base in Washington, and that the pair “do little to hide their relationship inside the department.” Unnamed sources also told the Wall Street Journal that Noem and Lewandowski allegedly use a luxury 737 MAX jet to travel around the country. 

Snopes was unable to independently verify the claims made in the Wall Street Journal’s report.

During a Feb. 16 press gaggle with Trump, a reporter referenced media reports about Noem’s alleged relationship with Lewandowski, asking the president whether it was a “bad look” for his administration and whether Noem would remain in her role.

Trump responded, “I don’t know about that. I mean, I haven’t heard that. I’ll find out about it, but I have not heard that.” 

A White House spokesperson referred Snopes to Trump’s comments during the press gaggle.

For further reading, Snopes has previously addressed numerous rumors about Noem, including a false claim that she said the Bible was written in English.

Sources