Trump's DHS pick baffled witnesses with tale of bloody helicopter rescue by Jordanian king

President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security has some explaining to do.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, the Oklahoma Republican tapped to replace Kristi Noem, has spent the last month suggesting he knows what war "smells like" despite never serving a day in uniform. Now, a New York Times investigation has unearthed a story that raised even more questions.

Shortly after joining the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2023, Mullin pulled King Abdullah II of Jordan aside during a closed-door meeting and told him he was a hero because the king once sent his personal helicopter to rescue Mullin and a group of Americans from an unspecified overseas jam.

"Mr. Mullin offered few other details, saying only that the group he was with could not get help from the American military and that they had bled all over the king’s helicopter. The king maintained an impassive demeanor before an aide jumped in to redirect the conversation to the general importance of cooperation between the two countries, two of the people said," according to the report. "Witnesses were left baffled."

At his fiery confirmation hearing this week, Mullin acknowledged a classified 2016 trip requiring specialized military SERE training — the same brutal survival program used to prepare soldiers for enemy capture and torture. He said only four people were "read in" on the mission. However, he couldn't remember the terms of his nondisclosure agreement.

The FBI queried the Pentagon, State Department, and intelligence agencies, coming up empty.

"So, you’re in no classified document that the federal government has according to the FBI, and yet you’re telling me you did all this classified work,” Sen. Gary Peters flatly told Mullin.