By Jessica Wedemeyer
12:52am PDT, May 16, 2025
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She'll have what he's having…
Amid brewing controversy over
the $400 million Boeing 747-8 private jet that Qatar recently gifted
Donald Trump,
Kristi Noem has expressed her desire for a new plane of her own.
The Secretary of Homeland Security is requesting a $50 million Gulfstream. (Even though she already has one!)
Keep reading to see who's footing the bill — and who shared their "horror" over the request…
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According to reports, the U.S. Coast Guard made a last-minute change to its 2025 budget to
earmark $50 million for Kristi Noem's new plane.
Illinois Rep.
Lauren Underwood flagged the change during the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security meeting on Wednesday, May 14: "I was horrified last Friday when we received a last-minute addition to your spend plan for Fiscal '25 — a new $50 million Gulfstream V for Secretary Noem's personal travel coming from the Coast Guard budget," she said, directing her "horror" at Coast Guard Chief Admiral
Kevin Lunday.
"She already has a Gulfstream V, by the way. This is a new one," the liberal politician added.
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Coast Guard Chief Admiral Kevin Lundy refused to say whether the request for a new Gulfstream for Kristi Noem came directly from the Department of Homeland Security or from somewhere else in the Trump administration.
"Meeting the needs of our Coast Guard men and women that are doing frontline operations is my top operational priority, and it's a top operational priority of the secretary," he said.
"She's been clear with that to me, and I know she testified to that effect before the subcommittee last week," he added.
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Coast Guard Chief Admiral Kevin Lundy went on to argue that a new Gulfstream for Kristi Noem is a necessity because of the two military long-range command and control aircraft the Coast Guard operates, one is "approaching obsolescence and the end of its service life."
"[It] provides a crucial service to Coast Guard leaders and to Secretary Noem," he said. "This aircraft is necessary to provide … secure, reliable, on-demand communications and movement to go forward, visit our operating forces conducting the missions, and then come back here to Washington to make sure we can work together to get them what they need."
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Illinois Rep. Lauren Underwood noted that Coast Guard Chief Admiral Kevin Lundy didn't "answer the question about whether he was directed to purchase this new Gulfstream V."
She
added of the matter on X, "We should be investing in our national security and improving the lives of our Coasties – not wasting taxpayer dollars on luxury travel and political stunts."
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Meanwhile, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary
Tricia McLaughlin released a statement agreeing with Coast Guard Chief Admiral Kevin Lundy that one of the Coast Guard's two Gulfstreams is more than 20 years old and "well beyond operational usage hours for a corporate aircraft."
"This is a matter of safety," she claimed. "Much like the Coast Guard's ships that are well beyond their service life and safe operational usage, the Coast Guard's aircraft are too. This administration is taking action to restore our Nation's finest maritime Armed Service to a capable fighting force."
The debate over a new jet for Kristi Noem couldn't come at a worse time as politicians on both side of the aisle have
taken issue with Donald Trump's new private jet from Qatar.
