{"id":45764,"date":"2026-03-24T18:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/03\/24\/markwayne-mullins-face-says-it-all-as-trump-admits-he-didnt-know-hes-native-american-at-dhs-swearing-in\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T18:01:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:01:00","slug":"markwayne-mullins-face-says-it-all-as-trump-admits-he-didnt-know-hes-native-american-at-dhs-swearing-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/2026\/03\/24\/markwayne-mullins-face-says-it-all-as-trump-admits-he-didnt-know-hes-native-american-at-dhs-swearing-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Markwayne Mullin’s face says it all as Trump admits he ‘didn’t know’ he’s Native American at DHS swearing-in"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER<\/a> <\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n

Published:<\/span>

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Incoming Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared surprised whenDonald Trump<\/a> admitted he did not know the former Oklahoma<\/a> Senator is Native American.<\/p>\n

During Mullin’s swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office on Tuesday to replace fired Kristi Noem, Trump began reading off the new DHS boss’ bio before stumbling across a surprise.<\/p>\n

‘But as the only Native American… I didn’t know that,’ Trump said before glancing at Mullin.<\/p>\n

‘I can tell you, he’s the only Native American in the Senate<\/a>. How many have been there before you, do you know?’ Trump asked.<\/p>\n

The new DHS Secretary quickly answered: ‘I think three.’<\/p>\n

‘I didn’t know all these things. I would have picked him faster. If I had known, I would have made a quicker decision,’ the President joked.<\/p>\n

Mullin seemed surprised that Trump did not know more of his backstory. After all, the two have made myriad public appearances together over the years and have spent a lot of time at political and sporting events, including with the Secretary’s family.<\/p>\n

‘Well, you’re a fantastic representative. Markwayne has also been a fantastic advocate for our cherished tribal communities. He’s now the first member of the Cherokee Nation ever to serve as a member of the Cabinet.’<\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump admitted he did not know that his new DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin is Native American. He added that had he known, ‘I would have picked him faster’<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mullin appeared to be surprised that the President did not know his heritage<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Attorney General Pam Bondi swore in Mullin as the new Secretary’s wife, Christie Mullin, held a Bible<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mullin, who is a member of the Cherokee Nation, supported multiple legislative efforts to help Native Americans while in Congress.<\/p>\n

‘Im Cherokee, and I never knew I was special for being Cherokee until I came to DC, because where Im from, everybody is Indian or wants to be,’ Mullin said in a 2025 press release.<\/p>\n

Trump and the Secretary’s relationship grew after a scary injury Mullin’s son, Jim, then 15, suffered during a high school wrestling match in 2020.<\/p>\n

The President would call Mullin to check in on Jim and the family, and later that year, he invited the father and son on stage at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.<\/p>\n

Mullin and Trump later made a trip together to theNCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Tulsa in 2023.<\/p>\n

Shortly after being sworn in by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Mullin remarked that he will work with both Republican and Democratic states to ‘protect everybody the same.’<\/p>\n

‘No one’s going to outwork me,’ the DHS Secretary said. ‘The President has entrusted me with this, and failure is not an option.’<\/p>\n

Trump also thanked the Mullin family, who were in attendance, before complimenting the Secretary’s wife, Christie Mullin.<\/p>\n

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Mullin with the leaders of the Cherokee Nation in 2019<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Mullin talks with Former President Donald Trump during the NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships at the BOK Center in 2023<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Mullins and their six children stand as Trump speaks<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

‘I want to thank the family, because without the family, he’s not here. He’s a different person, and that goes especially for mom, who looks like she’s about 22 years old.’<\/p>\n

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt swore in Alan Armstrong, an energy executive, to replace Mullin as the state’s junior Senator on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Armstrong will serve until November, when the state’s Senatorial election will take place.<\/p>\n

Congressman Kevin Hern, a Republican, is the heavy favorite in the race.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/ad-slot> <\/ad-slot> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 16:00 EDT, 24 March 2026 | Updated: 17:01 EDT, 24 March 2026 Incoming Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin appeared surprised whenDonald Trump admitted he did not know the former Oklahoma Senator is Native American. During Mullin’s swearing-in ceremony in the Oval Office on Tuesday to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":45765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-donald-trump"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/service.codeus.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}