Kristi Noem is set to divorce her husband of 34 years, Bryon Noem, according to her mother, closing out a marriage that faced fresh scrutiny this year.
Corinne Arnold, Noem’s mother, tells the Daily Mail that the former Homeland Security secretary shared the decision with family members this past spring.
The disclosure comes months after a Daily Mail investigation alleged that Bryon Noem paid adult entertainers and engaged in cross-dressing during role-playing encounters.
Arnold says the family was left “blindsided” by the allegations, according to a spokesperson who spoke on Noem’s behalf at the time.
“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,'” Arnold recalls telling her daughter.
Arnold says Noem revealed her plans while relatives gathered for one of the couple’s grandchildren’s birthday celebrations.
“It has been difficult, but we knew this was coming, that they were going to get divorced,” Arnold says.
Noem stepped down as Homeland Security secretary on March 5 and later took on a new role as special envoy for the Trump administration’s Shield of the Americas initiative.
The tabloid report on Bryon Noem’s alleged private conduct cited messages, audio recordings and photographs said to show him wearing women’s clothing and using props during encounters.
Following that report’s publication, a spokesperson for Kristi Noem said she was devastated by the allegations against her husband.
“The family was blindsided by this, and they ask for privacy and prayers at this time,” the spokesperson said in a statement issued after the story broke.
Bryon and Kristi Noem married in 1992 in Watertown, South Dakota, and raised three children together, named Kassidy, Kennedy and Booker.
Bryon Noem built a career in the insurance industry after earning a business finance degree from Northern State University in South Dakota.
Before entering insurance, he coached basketball and spent time working on the Noem family farm in his home state.
Kristi Noem was removed from her Homeland Security post in early March following a turbulent stretch marked by internal disputes and congressional hearings.
She has not been reached for direct comment on the divorce reports, and her office has not issued a fresh statement addressing her mother’s remarks.
The marriage’s end caps a difficult stretch for Noem, who left her Cabinet post and now faces renewed public attention over her personal life.
Family members reportedly anticipated the split for some time given the strain the tabloid allegations placed on the couple’s relationship this year.
