The secret behind Trump's rising star Cabinet secretary's popularity rating

By JON MICHAEL RAASCH, US POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 12:41, 18 April 2026 | Updated: 12:41, 18 April 2026 Donald Trump's newest Cabinet member is significantly less hated than his predecessor after just weeks on the job.  Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin - who is now in charge of the President's immigration portfolio - has a much lower disapproval rating than ex-Secretary Kristi Noem, according to the latest Daily Mail/JL Partners survey.  His approval rating is 28 percent while his disapproval stands at 31 percent. This relatively rosy outlook comes despite all the controversies surrounding ICE and Border Patrol.  Mullin also benefits from being new to the role, as 40 percent of respondents were wither unsure or neither approved or disapproved of his time in the job.  The fresh face of the scandal-plagued DHS begins his new role with much less opposition than the former South Dakotan who held the post.  Last month, Noem had a similar approval rating around 28 percent but she also had decisively worse disapproval rating at 43 percent, according to the Daily Mail/JL Partners survey in March.   Noem's tenure at DHS was rocky due to her 'ICE Barbie' habits, where she dressed in law enforcement fatigues while donning a face full of make-up and meticulously done hair, her rumored affair with a subordinate and the rough immigration tactics employed by her agents.  In contrast, Mullin, a former Oklahoma Senator who is actually known for wearing cowboy hats and boots, appears for now to have broad support despite his politically tenuous assignment.  DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has a much higher approval rating that his predecessor Kristi Noem, according to the latest Daily Mail/JL Partners survey Kristi Noem was surrounded by controversy during her tenure at DHS, from accusations of dressing up as 'ICE Barbie,' to a rumored affair with her subordinate and a scandalous acquisition of a private jet to facilitate her travel  President Donald Trump shakes hands with Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin during his swearing-in in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, March 24, 2026 He noted in a recent interview on CNBC that his goal for DHS is for it to become less controversial under his control.  'We're still going after the worst of the worst, but we're doing it in a more quiet way, because my goal in six months is to not have DHS on the lead story every day,' he said. 'We want to make sure people understand we're here working for the people, not against you.'  Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are the most popular Cabinet members. Rubio had a 37 percent approval compared to a 33 percent disapproval; Bessent scored a 29 percent approval and a 27 percent disapproval.  Secretary of War Pete Hegseth had the lowest approval at -7 points, according to the survey of over 1,000 American voters. The margin of error is 3.1 percent.  So far, the Trump administration has touted the deportation of close to 3 million individuals, but many of those came without rough and tumble ICE or Border Patrol interactions.  DHS estimates that 2.2 million individuals have self-deported while around 675,000 have been deported by agents.   The average cost to prosecute an individual in the country illegally and remove them is $18,225, Mullin said in a recent interview.  'Under the Biden administration, 20 million individuals came here illegally, if we go through the process on every single one of those, do the math on that at $18,225 proposal,' the DHS Secretary said.  The total cost to deport all of the estimated 20 million illegal immigrants at $18,225 per person would be $365 billion.   The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.