WASHINGTON — Corey Lewandowski is down, but not out.
President Trump’s rough-and-tumble former campaign manager took a hit when Trump fired Kristi Noem as Homeland Security secretary in March, ending Lewandowski’s position as a special government employee with its access and perks.
But the 52-year-old is working on engineering a return from political exile while maintaining his romantic relationship with Noem, sources tell The Post.
“Corey is looking for ways to get back in good with President Trump” is how one Republican strategist put it — and when Lewandowski recently singled out Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), eyebrows went up around Washington and the Black Hills.
“John Thune, who happens to be up for re-election — not this November but two years from now — is very susceptible to a very serious Republican primary challenge,” Lewandowski told conservative podcaster John Fredericks in late June.
“The American people will be looking at someone who has a proven history of winning an election in South Dakota to maybe challenge John Thune,” he added, a description that sources said put them in mind of Noem, who became the first woman elected governor of the state in 2018 after serving four terms in the House of Representatives.
Multiple Republicans say remaining in Trump’s good graces is essential to Lewandowski and the success of his government and public affairs firm, Lewandowski Strategic Advisors.
“He values that relationship more than anything else,” one source said, while another confirmed Lewandowski “dines out” on having the president’s ear.
“President Trump carried the state of South Dakota by nearly 30 points. The people of that state overwhelmingly support his agenda for America,” Lewandowski said when reached for comment Thursday. “No politician is immune to the will of the voters.”
He then pivoted to calling for passage of Trump’s signature legislation, the SAVE America Act, which would require Americans to show proof of citizenship before registering to vote and provide photo identification before casting a ballot — and which Thune has said does not have the votes to pass the Senate, to the president’s enduring frustration.
“I would encourage every incumbent senator to achieve this objective,” Lewandowski said pointedly.
Meanwhile, Noem and Lewandowski — both of whom are still officially married to other people — continue to pursue a romantic relationship, sources told The Post after the duo was spotted biking and canoodling along the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota this week. Neither has commented on the intimate photos published by TMZ.
The two are also known to have ambitions that end with Noem occupying the Oval Office, a plan that dates back to her time as South Dakota governor.
Lewandowski has been a favorite of Trump’s since he managed the president’s 2016 victory in the New Hampshire primary, which helped catapult him to the Republican nomination.
But Trump grew frustrated after Noem oversaw a series of controversies over immigration enforcement while head of DHS, and her non-answer when asked during a congressional hearing whether she was having an affair with Lewandowski was the final straw leading to her dismissal.
Lewandowski left his post as a special government employee at the same time. Some say Trump forced him out, although his allies say he left of his own accord.
But those who know Lewandowski — even if they don’t like him — know better than to count him out, with one Republican strategist calling him “smart and calculating” while adding that he “never fully goes away.” Still others refer to him as a “survivor.”
Given Lewandowski’s reputation for holding grudges and hardball tactics against those he feels crossed him, every source interviewed for this story asked to remain anyonymous.
The road back will not be easy. Lewandowski has few fans in Trump’s orbit, and made an enemy of powerful White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, whom he tried to overthrow while she was running Trump’s successful 2024 campaign.
The fallout from Lewandowski’s time at DHS also has yet to settle.
Last month, the Wall Street Journal reported that the department’s internal watchdog found evidence Lewandowski may have been involved in improperly awarding federal contracts and was weighing sending a referral to the Justice Department for potential prosecution. Lewandowski has denied wrongdoing.
Despite being married since 2005 to wife Allison Hardy, Lewandowski has also been accused of numerous affairs and acting inappropriately with high-profile women in the Trump orbit. He has denied those claims as well.
Meanwhile, Thune would likely be a formidable opponent for Noem. Several Republican strategists with ties to South Dakota told The Post they still see the majority leader in a strong position to win a fifth term in 2028.
The 65-year-old has a long history of public service, having served in the House of Representatives for six years before his election to the Senate in 2004.
Still, polls show voters in the state give higher marks to Trump. The president had a 53% job approval rating among South Dakota voters in a May KELOLAND/Emerson College poll while Thune’s approval was only 28%.
Thune has indicated he’ll seek re-election but hasn’t committed to doing so, claiming he wants to see where Republicans stand after November’s midterm election.
“My assumption is, going in, that I am,” he told reporters on Capitol Hill this week.
“You know, every election has an impact on that, so we’ll see how it comes out in November,” he added.
There’s also the question of whether Noem’s brand has sustained too much damage following her dismissal from DHS, the Daily Mail’s revelation that her husband Byron has a “bimbofication” fetish and her bizarre story of shooting a “dangerous” family dog that was published in her 2024 memoir.
She notably stayed out of last week’s Republican gubernatorial runoff — neither campaigning for nor endorsing her replacement as governor, Larry Rhoden, who ultimately cruised to renomination.
“Toxic” was how one Republican strategist described the 54-year-old Noem, currently serving at the State Department in her position as Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.
Reps for the White House, Noem and Thune did not respond to requests for comment.
