Just before Kristi Noem left the Department of Homeland Security, the department agreed to pay $108 million to Daedalus Aviation Corporation for a Boeing 737 private jet that the firm had acquired for less than $90 million, The New York Times reported on October 4, 2026. It also bought two more luxury jets from Daedalus for $106 million, against the $83 million the company paid for them, and two 17-year-old 737s for $45 million each, more than their typical market value, according to the Times. All five planes were bought on Noem's last morning at the department; her successor, Markwayne Mullin, took over on March 25. Trump had fired Noem from the Cabinet in March.
The federal contract record shows the shape of the deal. On USAspending, the Daedalus contract for ICE removal flights was not competed, citing urgency, with one offer received, and a modification for additional work worth $303,235,250.80 is dated March 24, 2026, the day before Mullin took office. Total obligations on the contract reached $463,638,746.
Daedalus's chairman, William Walters, gave $10,000 to Noem's political action committee, American Resolve, in 2024, and his companies received more than $900 million in DHS contracts after she took office, The New Republic reported, citing the Times. When Mullin was confirmed, he looked into backing out of the deal but worried about a financial penalty; White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who shared that concern, told him not to block the purchases. The planes have sat for months in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and an internal document obtained by the Times said DHS lacked the crews to fly them, the Daily Beast reported.
Noem, now a special envoy at the State Department, called the article “factually incorrect” and “libelous” and demanded a retraction, disputing the word “donor.” A Times spokesperson told Mediaite, “We stand by the characterization of the political donor and his firm.” Under Mullin, DHS told the Daily Beast the contract was made and approved “before Secretary Mullin was sworn in.” The purchase and resale prices and the account of Mullin's conversation with Wiles rest on the Times's reporting; the contract amounts and dates are in the federal record.
Related: the earlier lease and insurance arrangement for the same firm's jet is in Melania and Noem Share a $70M Luxury Jet as What Insiders Call an 'Insurance Policy' Against Being Fired.