Kristi Noem, the Governor of South Dakota and a known Trump ally, gave 22-year-old Thomas Fugate a major responsibility in June. She put him in a leadership role at the Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3), a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) program focused on fighting domestic terrorism. The department was quick to praise Fugate’s “leadership” and work ethic. But soon after, reports came out that questioned his background.
On June 6, The Daily Beast reported that Fugate had no real experience in terrorism prevention. He had graduated from college only a year earlier and previously worked as a gardener and a grocery store clerk. This caused major embarrassment for the department, led by the controversial Noem. DHS quickly tried to lower the attention by saying his leadership role was only temporary and based on his ‘success on the job.”
Later, Fugate was referred to as a “low-level” staffer. This came after more stories raised questions about his background. His own department began to publicly downplay his role. He was even asked to give an interview to explain that he never had any real power in the office.
DHS says Fugate was not in charge of any major decisions
The DHS tried to make it clear that Fugate was never in a top position. Tricia McLaughlin, an Assistant Secretary at DHS under the embattled Noem, said on June 20 that Fugate was just one of many staffers helping senior officials with CP3 reforms. She repeated this later in July, telling Fox News Digital that Fugate was “never in a position of leadership within the program.” Fox also reported that she called him a “low-level” staffer.
That's the best Hakeem can do, bring up a 22 year old relationship that ended when Trump found out Epstein was hitting on young girls at Mar-a-Lago? What a low-life lilly.
— Alan Rawlins (@Gyroscope57) July 22, 2025
It was also found that Fugate had once been involved in a police investigation over a teenage relationship problem less than four years ago. This added more pressure on the DHS to respond.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Fugate himself said that he was not in charge of anything. “All decisions came down from policy leadership, [the] undersecretary, deputy secretary, and chief of staff,” he said. He also explained that CP3 is a small office that mainly gives out grants.
He said the public only saw it as a big issue because the story was taken out of context. “It’s only when you take it out of context and blow it out of proportion that it then becomes a massive problem where people think I’m practically running the FBI,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security has not given any further comments since then.
