ICE Barbie’s Secret China Cash Switch Revealed

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Kristi Noem delivers remarks at a working lunch at the Shield of the Americas Summit at Trump National Doral Miami, in Doral, Florida, U.S., March 7, 2026.https://thedailybeast-thedailybeast-prod.web.arc-cdn.net/resizer/v2/UISQ6VE2EZAF5PQS66PY42TITY.JPG?auth=6f2db2fda96e4a2d1e688084dce853c069ebc192a044ded57fa3454fc4fbebe4&smart=true&width=3784&height=2128" />
Rebecca Blackwell / via REUTERS

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem diverted about $150 million in federal funding approved to counter national security threats posed by China and instead used it for security at https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-faces-deafening-jeers-at-world-cup-trophy-ceremony/" rel="">sporting events.

The “big beautiful” spending bill passed by congressional Republicans last year included $170 million for “maritime domain awareness” technology to fight China’s illegal fishing operations worldwide, https://punchbowl.news/article/border/immigration/dhs-anti-china/" rel="">Punchbowl News reported.

The illegal fishing takes place at a scale that “constitutes ecocide conducted via gross human rights abuses,” and “poses an acute threat to the U.S. and our allies,” a bipartisan group of senators wrote Thursday in a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

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