Top DHS Spokeswoman Will Depart From The Trump Administration

The top spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security has left the Trump administration.

A new report from insiders within the DHS has revealed that Tricia McLaughlin will resign from her position as the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the DHS.

In case you’re better with faces than names, here’s a video of McLaughlin in action:

NEW: Asst. Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin is STEPPING DOWN next week

Tricia has been one of the FIERCEST voices in favor of mass deportations in the entire administration.

Thank you so much for your service, @TriciaOhio

Godspeed!

Tricia was reportedly… pic.twitter.com/2VZtVyeFDT

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) February 17, 2026

CBS News broke the story of McLaughlin’s departure from the DHS:

Tricia McLaughlin, the Department of Homeland Security’s top spokeswoman, is leaving her post next week, two U.S. officials familiar with her plans told CBS News on Tuesday.

As the chief spokesperson of the federal agency spearheading President Trump’s mass deportation campaign, McLaughlin has been prolific on social media and in the press defending the Trump administration’s immigration policies.

A source familiar with McLaughlin’s plans said her departure was planned in December, and that she delayed it following the fatal shooting of two U.S. citizens in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers.

Her departure was first reported by Politico earlier Tuesday.

McLaughlin appears to be leaving on good terms.

After news broke she was departing, the DHS released the following clip of McLaughlin:

The ongoing shutdown is holding the safety and national security of the American people hostage.

Immigration enforcement is continuing unfettered, with @CBP and @ICEgov funded.

Congressional Democrats are using @TSA, @FEMA, @SecretService, @USCG, @CISAgov and other key… pic.twitter.com/nzwOftdloq

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) February 17, 2026

Politico reported McLaughlin has not ruled out possibly running for some form of office in the near future:

It’s unclear what she will do next but asked by the paper if she would ever run for office if she returned to Cincinnati, McLaughlin, who’s married to GOP consultant Ben Yoho, said she “wouldn’t rule anything out.”

While immigration was a major focus for McLaughlin, given the sprawling DHS remit, she also worked on issues including how TSA was affected by the government shutdown last year, the Coast Guard’s role in the Caribbean drug boat strikes and FEMA’s response to major storms.

Her stint at DHS followed her earlier service in the first Trump administration where she worked for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and at the State Department on arms control issues.

McLaughlin became an avatar of the Trump administration’s communications campaign defending its immigration enforcement effort. In doing so, she assumed a level of prominence — and withering criticism — garnered not even by some Trump Cabinet officials.

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