Breaking — Trump's Top Immigration Propagandist Flees DHS

Tricia McLaughlin called it a "PR war." Her husband got a $200 million contract to fight it. Now she's running—as 62% of Americans say ICE has gone too far.

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“It’s a PR war.”

That’s how Tricia McLaughlin—the Department of Homeland Security’s top spokesperson, the woman who stood behind podiums and camera lights defending every ICE raid, every shooting, every lie—described her job to the Cincinnati Enquirer last month.¹ Not a public safety mission. Not national security. A PR war. And today, she’s surrendering.

McLaughlin, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs and Kristi Noem’s most visible defender after Noem herself, is leaving the administration next week.¹ She planned to leave in December but delayed her exit in the aftermath of the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis—the very crisis her office helped ignite by calling the victims “domestic terrorists” before any investigation had even begun.¹

Let that sink in. She stayed because of the shootings. Not to ensure accountability. Not to correct the record. To manage the PR disaster her own department created when its agents killed two American citizens and her boss’s first instinct was to smear the dead.

The Receipts

McLaughlin wasn’t just a spokesperson. She was the engine of DHS’s disinformation operation. Even before the Minneapolis killings, her office faced repeated credibility crises after making claims that were “later undermined by video or statements from local officials.”² Governor JB Pritzker called her a “pathological liar.”¹ Representative Dan Goldman accused her of “gaslighting the American people.”¹ She logged up to five media appearances a day at her peak—Fox, CNN, CBS, NPR, Newsmax—flooding the zone with whatever version of reality DHS needed that news cycle.¹

And it failed. Spectacularly. A recent Ipsos poll shows 62% of Americans now believe ICE’s efforts have gone “too far.”² Reuters/Ipsos puts it at 58%.¹ Public support for Trump’s immigration enforcement has dropped to the lowest point of his presidency.³ The woman whose entire job was selling the crackdown to America is leaving because America isn’t buying.

But here’s where the story gets uglier. Last year, ProPublica reported that a firm run by McLaughlin’s husband, GOP consultant Ben Yoho, was subcontracted to produce an advertising campaign for DHS—a $200 million deal.² McLaughlin claimed she “recused herself because of the conflict of interest” and that DHS had “no visibility” into subcontractor selection.² Think about that. The department’s top communications official—the person who controlled what DHS said, how it said it, and who said it—claims she had no idea her husband’s firm was producing the department’s advertising. That’s not a recusal. That’s a cover story.

The Sinking Ship

McLaughlin isn’t the only one heading for the exits. ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan announced last month she’s also stepping down—to run for Congress in Ohio.² The rats aren’t just fleeing. They’re building political careers on the wreckage.

The timing tells the real story. McLaughlin’s departure comes days after a devastating Wall Street Journal exposé cataloging “constant chaos” within DHS—including the allegation that Noem fired a U.S. Coast Guard pilot for misplacing her blanket.¹ The department she defended is in freefall. Trump himself sidelined Noem in Minneapolis, handing control to border czar Tom Homan in what White House officials openly described as a rebuttal to Noem’s approach.¹ House Democrats have launched an impeachment effort against Noem, citing violated public trust, stymied oversight, and self-dealing.³ And a partial government shutdown—triggered last week by an impasse over DHS reform—remains unresolved, with the agency’s conduct as the central sticking point.²

Current deputy Lauren Bis is expected to take over the top role, with conservative commentator Katie Zacharia joining as a spokesperson.³ New faces. Same machine. The propaganda operation doesn’t stop just because the propagandist quit.

What This Really Is

McLaughlin’s own words are her epitaph. “It’s a PR war.” She told us exactly what the immigration crackdown was—not a policy designed to make Americans safer, but a messaging campaign designed to make Americans afraid. And when her office’s lies were exposed by video, by local officials, by the bodies of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, she didn’t correct the record. She called the dead “domestic terrorists” and kept booking Fox hits.

Her response to criticism? A Rick and Morty meme on Instagram: “Your boos mean nothing. I’ve seen what makes you cheer.”¹ That’s who was running communications for the department that controls immigration enforcement, FEMA, the Coast Guard, the Secret Service, and TSA. A meme-posting propagandist whose husband cashed a $200 million check from the agency she represented.

She’s not leaving on her terms. She’s being chased out by reality—by the 62% of Americans who see through the PR war, by the shootings her office tried to spin, by the chaos even the Wall Street Journal couldn’t ignore. And she’s reportedly eyeing a run for office back in Cincinnati.¹ Because in the Trump ecosystem, failing upward isn’t a bug. It’s the business model.

The Call

This isn’t an isolated incident. We track stories like this using the fascism syndrome—ten indicators that a democracy is sliding into fascism—so you don’t lose the thread in the daily chaos:

• War on reality: She called it a “PR war.” Claims undermined by video, over and over. Not misinformation—disinformation. By design.

• Normalization of political violence: Federal agents killed two Americans. DHS called them “domestic terrorists.” The woman who delivered that smear is now quietly walking away.

• Consolidation of economic power: Her husband’s firm got a $200 million DHS ad subcontract while she ran DHS communications. The grift is baked into the cruelty.

• Capture of the state: Five media appearances a day—not to inform the public, but to manufacture consent for a crackdown 62% of Americans now reject.

Lie to the public. Smear the dead. Cash the check. Leave before it collapses. That’s not public service. That’s fascism.

But naming the disease is only half the job.

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• Fighting Fascism: How We Push Back and Win — The strategic playbook for reclaiming power

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Article Sources:

1. Daniel Lippman and Adam Wren, “DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin to leave Trump administration“, Politico, February 17, 2026.

Exclusive report breaking the news of McLaughlin’s departure, including her quote to the Cincinnati Enquirer describing her work as a “PR war,” her Instagram Rick and Morty meme dismissing criticism, and her role as DHS’s most prolific media defender with up to five appearances per day. Documents that she planned to leave in December but delayed amid the Minneapolis shooting aftermath, that Governor Pritzker called her a “pathological liar,” Representative Goldman accused her of “gaslighting the American people,” and that Trump praised her on Truth Social. Also reports the Wall Street Journal exposé on “constant chaos” at DHS—including the blanket incident—and that Trump sidelined Noem by putting Homan in charge in Minneapolis.

2. Priscilla Alvarez and Michael Williams, “Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin to leave agency“, CNN, February 17, 2026.

CNN’s report adds the critical ProPublica corruption angle: McLaughlin’s husband’s firm was subcontracted on a $200 million DHS advertising deal, and she claimed to have recused herself. Documents that 62% of Americans now say ICE has gone “too far,” that DHS’s credibility was already damaged before the Minneapolis shootings by claims undermined by video and local officials, and that a partial government shutdown triggered by DHS reform disputes remains unresolved. Notes ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan is also leaving to run for Congress in Ohio.

3. Ted Hesson and Jasper Ward, “Top Trump Homeland Security spokesperson to depart with immigration crackdown under scrutiny“, Reuters, February 17, 2026.

Reuters confirms McLaughlin’s departure and provides the exclusive detail that conservative commentator Katie Zacharia will join DHS as spokesperson, with deputy Lauren Bis expected to take the top role. Reports that House Democrats launched an impeachment effort against Noem for violating public trust, stymying congressional oversight, and self-dealing. Notes public support for immigration enforcement dropped to the lowest level of Trump’s presidency following the Minneapolis shootings.