Mullin’s After-Hours Plea to Trump Echoes Noem Playbook — White House Officials Fume

White House officials say a pattern has emerged in which allies of former President Donald Trump seek private, after-hours access to press him on personnel decisions — a tactic that has alarmed senior aides, according to reporting by PunchUp and the Daily Beast.

Lance Schroyer is very much a Mullin man, and his nomination—and how it came about—has caused a stir in the White House. / Oklahoma Highway Patrol/Reuters

Sources told PunchUp that Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin personally lobbied Trump inside the White House on Saturday, June 27, to secure the nomination of longtime associate Richard "Lance" Schroyer as ICE director. Mullin’s chief of staff, Susie Wiles, was out of town for her daughter’s wedding when the meeting took place, and Wiles — along with Trump immigration adviser Stephen Miller and border official Tom Homan — learned of the nomination the same way the public did: via Truth Social.

Noem was nicknamed ICE Barbie for her love of cosplaying for the camera with her agents. / Alex Brandon/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

Pattern Mirrors Earlier Noem Visit

Multiple administration sources said Mullin’s approach echoed a January visit by then-Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and her adviser Corey Lewandowski. That pair reportedly arrived at the White House the evening of Friday, Jan. 30, after senior staff had left for the weekend, and the visit was followed that night by a public Truth Social defense of Noem from Trump.

Noem (2-L) and Lewandowski (R), pictured here in 2020, have been connected for many years. / Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

“Certain people — bad actors — have found ways, like calling at night when his senior crew of advisers is not around, to push things through,” a source close to Trump told PunchUp.

Sources described Trump’s usual decision-making process as one that benefits from debate in front of his senior aides; catching him “on his own,” they said, reduces the number of perspectives he hears and can make it easier for visitors to secure favorable outcomes.

Trump officials have uncovered the way to get what they want from Trump is to go and see him when Wiles and Miller and their team of aides are not around. / Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Responses and Risks

The Daily Beast contacted both the White House and the Department of Homeland Security for comment. Although a senior Trump aide confirmed PunchUp’s account, White House spokeswoman Lauren Bis called the report “wrong” without specifying which elements she disputed and added that “President Trump hears multiple points of view before he reaches a decision.” A DHS spokesperson declined to address alleged secret visits and instead praised Schroyer’s nomination. Noem and Lewandowski did not respond to requests for comment.

Administration officials warned that Mullin’s maneuver could have strategic downsides. Susie Wiles had supported Mullin’s elevation to head DHS, and bypassing her might have strained that relationship just as Mullin faces mounting scrutiny over Schroyer’s nomination and DHS detention and deportation practices. The Noem episode offers a cautionary footnote: her late-night appeal reportedly extended her tenure by only 34 days before Trump dismissed her on March 5 and named Mullin to the role.

The reporting was compiled by Tom Latchem for PunchUp, the Daily Beast’s sister Substack, which focuses on behind-the-scenes stories about powerful figures and institutions.