Homeland Security Sec. Kristi Noem Slammed For Wearing $59K Gold Rolex While Visiting Supermax Prison In El Salvador

Kristi Noem, the Department of Homeland Security secretary, is being criticized on social media for wearing a $59,500 gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona watch while visiting an El Salvador prison.

On March 26, Noem visited the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), a prison about 47 miles southeast of El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador. It has been a key part of the country’s President Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on violent drug cartels.

Last month, Noem was mocked for wearing a cowboy hat during a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border.

During her visit, she filmed a video in front of a cell of inmates, which she posted on X on Wednesday. In the video, she can be seen wearing the gold watch experts identified as a gold Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, which sells online for $59,500.

“I toured the CECOT, El Salvador’s Terrorism Containment Center,” Noem wrote in the X post’s caption. “President Trump and I have a clear message to criminal illegal aliens: LEAVE NOW. If you do not leave, we will hunt you down, arrest you, and you could end up in this El Salvadorian prison. If you come to our country illegally, this is one of the consequences you could face,” the DHS secretary said in the video. 

She then stated that if people come into the U.S. illegally, then they will be “removed” and “prosecuted.”

Noem then reminded these people that the CECOT “is one of the tools in [the Department’s] toolkit that [they] will use if” anyone comes into the country illegally.

X users reacted negatively to her choice of jewelry, with many considering it insensitive.

“As much as I appreciate Noem being involved in every aspect of deportations, entering this men’s prison in this attire may not be the most appropriate,” one user wrote on the platform.

“She has no self-awareness,” another user declared. “It’s like trying a case with a Rolex and a huge diamond ring on, the jury gets a bad taste in their mouth. Noem seems to have no empathy.”

“Kristi Noem flaunts a $60K Rolex while touring a brutal El Salvador prison, ironic for a Homeland Security Secretary who should focus on human rights, not luxury,” another stated. “Her wealth screams privilege, not leadership. Shameful display amidst such suffering.”

In late February, the DHS launched an ad campaign about migrants in which Noem, on behalf of President Donald Trump, warned illegal immigrants that the department would “find” as well as “deport” them, and they “will never return.”