“Governor Noem Addresses Secret Service Scrutiny Ahead of Trump’s Historic Super Bowl Attendance”

Kristi Noem, the Secretary of Homeland Security, supported the U.S. Secret Service responsible for protecting President Donald Trump during his unprecedented attendance at the Super Bowl, becoming the first sitting president to do so.

The Secret Service operates under the Department of Homeland Security. When asked about the time she had to investigate the security breaches leading to the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, Noem mentioned on “Fox News Sunday” that the DHS was progressing positively. She highlighted that for the Super Bowl, in addition to the Secret Service, many other DHS personnel would be deployed to ensure security.

“I am proud of the Secret Service and their daily sacrifices to ensure safety. They undergo extensive training, including investigations,” Noem stated. “For this occasion, we have also mobilized various other resources. We are collaborating with local authorities, the governor, and his designated agencies for this purpose.”

“But we have several different agencies under the Department of Homeland Security that have put hundreds of individuals, investigators and military police folks that are used to these kinds of crowd control and security operations in their other departments that are focused on today to make sure that this big event is going to be safe and that we’re going to make the right decisions in these situations that could arise and get everybody home safely,” Noem added. 

At the time, she said DHS would have around 700 personnel on the ground for the game, but would not be specific about the numbers because “we maintain the prerogative to adjust those numbers as we see fit.” 

Beyond the ground response, Noem said DHS also had regulations in the air regarding drone traffic, as well as cybersecurity operations to monitor online activity. 

“We will be utilizing different agencies and departments under the umbrella of Homeland Security, but President Trump has also made a commitment for us to be able to deploy other assets from other departments and agencies, and I appreciate the flexibility that he has given us to make sure that we’re addressing this even in a way that we see as responsive coming forward,” Noem said. “We’re grateful for that interagency support, and I believe that it is unprecedented.” 

“This Super Bowl exemplifies how we come together to safeguard our traditions,” Noem said. “How we come together to make sure the public is well-informed and gets to celebrate something that’s very special to us – to our culture, to our people and to our families. But we also do it in a way that’s reactive to what we see as the current environment that we see in the world today. The world is a much more dangerous place, but here in the homeland, we are safe.”  

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry said he was deploying an additional 350 National Guard troops to support the federal effort.

President Donald Trump leaves from Mar-a-Lago, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Noem recognized the “strength, unity and resiliency of this city” in the wake of the Jan. 1 terrorist attack, adding that there were no specific, credible threats to the Super Bowl at that time.