Claim:
A video shared online in late 2025 authentically showed U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem celebrating her birthday at a Mexican restaurant while wearing a pink sombrero.
Rating:
In December 2025, a video (archived) circulated online that claimed to authentically show U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem celebrating her birthday at a Mexican restaurant while wearing a pink sombrero, a wide-brimmed hat traditionally worn in Mexico and the southwestern U.S.Â
The video circulated as the Department of Homeland Security continued efforts to detain and deport people without lawful status in the U.S. The DHS’s efforts have affected many communities of people living in the U.S., including those from Mexico and Latin America. Because of this, many social media users called Noem’s behavior hypocritical.
One X user who shared the video, which also allegedly showed restaurant staff singing “Happy Birthday” to Noem in Spanish, wrote:
Kristi Noem has the nerve to have her 54th birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant and even wears a Sombrero and has them sing Happy Birthday in Spanish! This is just shows what a total piece of crap she is mocking the people she has deported.Why did this restaurant allow her in!
Kristi Noem has the nerve to have her 54th birthday dinner at a Mexican restaurant and even wears a Sombrero and has them sing Happy Birthday in Spanish! This is just shows what a total piece of crap she is mocking the people she has deported.Why did this restaurant allow her in! pic.twitter.com/1dH58SbHdW
— Suzie rizzio (@Suzierizzo1) December 3, 2025
The video or screenshots from the video circulated in English and Spanish on Facebook (archived), Threads (archived), Instagram (archived), Bluesky (archived) and Reddit (archived).
The video appeared to be real, meaning not created using artificial intelligence. Noem posted (archived) the footage on her public Facebook profile on Nov. 29, 2025. Her birthday is Nov. 30, 1971, according to an official Congress biography page. Snopes identified the location as a Mexican restaurant in Watertown, South Dakota.Â
Given the above, we rate this claim true.
We reached out to the restaurant that hosted Noem and her family to confirm the recording date of the video and await a reply to our query.
According to other images from Noem’s and her husband, Bryon Noem’s, public Facebook accounts, Kristi Noem celebrated her birthday at the Mexican restaurant in Watertown with one of her grandchildren and Bryon Noem’s parents (archived, archived). Noem was born in Watertown, according to her Congress bio.
In the Facebook post (archived) that contained the birthday video and a number of other pictures and videos, Noem wrote, “Moments this week to celebrate how thankful we are for all of God’s blessings….Hope your Thanksgiving was full of memories and love.“
Snopes previously investigated whether Noem thanked President Donald Trump for keeping hurricanes away, and investigated a number of other claims, including whether the secretary incorrectly used the term “habeas corpus.”
