According to U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, she always believed that when people talked about the “deep state,” it really existed; but she never imagined things would get this bad.

In a one-hour conversation with MAGA podcaster Patrick Bet-David, released on February 26, 2026, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem stated: “Performing my role as Secretary of Homeland Security has shown me just how the ‘deep state’ truly exists and how dangerous it can be.” (Screenshot of U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s X social media account)

Yahoo News reported on February 27, citing information from the Daily Beast, that in a one-hour conversation with MAGA podcaster Patrick Bet-David, published on February 26, US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, 54, accused Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees of installing spyware on her personal devices, while also crediting tech billionaire Elon Musk for helping to expose the matter.

Noem stated: “I’ll be honest with you, Patrick, from the moment I took this position, Elon and his team have been incredibly supportive. They helped me identify that some employees within my own department had downloaded software onto my phone and laptop to monitor me, to record our meetings.”

The Secretary continued: “They did that to many other political personnel. So, eventually, we had to bring in experts, and that is something that, without the technology experts in the department, looking through all our laptops and phones and identifying that kind of software, it would still be going on today.”

However, Ms. Noem did not provide any evidence to substantiate her allegations, and when contacted for comment, the Department of Homeland Security said they would let Ms. Noem’s post “speak for itself.”

Also in the conversation with MAGA podcaster Patrick Bet-David, according to the US news site MEAWW on February 27, the Secretary of Homeland Security emphasized the need for long-term cooperation with technology experts.

Ms. Noem said, “So one of the things I need to do and will continue to do is to work with technology companies and experts, inviting them in to support us,” adding, “I’ve always believed that when people talk about the ‘deep state,’ it really exists; but I never imagined it would get this bad.”

According to the U.S. Secretary, every day she is “trying to weed out those who don’t love America, not just those working at this department, but throughout the federal government.”

Ms. Noem claimed that agents of the “deep state” have been operating a secret surveillance base right inside the Department of Homeland Security building.

Ms. Noem said, “Just the other day, I discovered an entire room on this (Department of Homeland Security) campus, a ‘secret, invulnerable’ facility (SCIF) containing documents that nobody knew existed.”

Ms. Noem explained: “We happened to have an employee walk past a door and wonder what it was. This person started asking questions. We conducted an investigation. There were individuals working with confidential files that nobody else knew about, relating to some of the most controversial topics.”

Ms. Noem added, “I have now referred this entire matter to lawyers, and we are working to clarify exactly what happened.” She also described efforts to track the movement of scientists between U.S. government laboratories and laboratories in China before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ms. Noem shared, “I also have national laboratories under my jurisdiction; there are scientists there who collaborated with the Wuhan lab (in China). We are studying how they moved back and forth between the two sides and worked on those experiments. It was truly eye-opening.”