Kristi Noem Absent From Donald Trump Mar-a-Lago Picture

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was not pictured at a Republican donor event with Donald Trump in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.

According to Politico, Noem did attend the event hosted by Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) on Saturday and gave a 30-minute speech.

However, she was not among those pictured on stage with the presumptive Republican nominee for the presidential election. Instead, Trump was pictured with other high-profile Republicans, including his daughter-in-law and RNC co-chair Lara Trump, ally and New York Representative Elise Stefanik, and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.

Newsweek contacted Noem’s office via the contact form on her official website outside of usual business hours to comment on this story.

It comes after Noem came in for criticism after she revealed she killed her dog Cricket because it was “untrainable.” Writing in her upcoming book, No Going Back: The Truth on What’s Wrong with Politics and How We Move America Forward she explained how she thought the dog was “dangerous to anyone she came in contact with,” leading her to shoot the dog in a gravel pit.

Noem, a close ally of Trump, had been widely speculated to be a potential vice presidential pick for him. Trump previously indicated that the Republican governor was a possible choice in an interview with Fox News on February 20. He said Noem and six others were being considered as his potential running mate.

But the news of her shooting her dog has resulted in a sharp fall in the odds on Noem being chosen as a prospective vice president.

Writing on X, formerly Twitter, Trump critic and attorney Ron Filipkowski speculated about her absence from the picture, writing: “The news here is that Kristi Noem was originally on the list for tonight, but no Kristi here.”

Noem spoke about “going through hard things” in what was called a “breakfast conversation” with North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum at the retreat, according to an audio recording obtained by Politico.

“Listen, going through hard things, and I’ve been through a few of them—I’m going through one right now, I mean they’re just attacking me like crazy right now,” Noem said.

“But listen, that’s a good thing. It’s a good thing because it makes you stronger, and it teaches you really what you’re up against, and it makes you recognize how much they lie, how much they will twist, how much they will manipulate. And you just have to be strong and be happy warriors.”

Newsweek has not been able to verify the recording Politico cited.