On Nov. 13, President-elect Donald Trump traveled to Washington, DC, where he met with congressional Republicans before visiting the White House at the invitation of the man he will succeed, Joe Biden. It was perhaps a refreshing moment of civility between two men who have spent most of the last five years excoriating each other. Far more important to most observers, however, is whom Trump will be taking with him when he returns to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in January to take office.
Trump Picks
The incoming president was quick to name Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff. Wiles, who also worked on Trump's 2016 and 2020 campaigns, almost certainly deserves a lot of the credit for the president-elect’s successful 2024 bid.
With America's illegal immigration problem and practically wide-open southern border front and center in the minds of many voters this election cycle, Trump also wasted little time naming Tom Homan as “Border Czar.” Homan served as executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under President Barack Obama and as acting director of ICE under (45th) President Donald Trump.
Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) will become the new president’s national security advisor. Waltz is a former Army officer and Green Beret. In a statement announcing his choice, Trump said, "Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!"
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem will take the helm at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Though governor of a state that is almost as far from the southern border as one can get, Noem has been an outspoken advocate for tougher immigration policies and stricter border controls. At DHS, her portfolio will include Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as ICE.
Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin will head up the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin, who made an unsuccessful bid for governor of New York in 2022, is a proponent of fracking. He will likely have his work cut out for him leading an agency so heavily invested in the Democrats’ “green energy” anti-fossil fuel agenda.
Trump’s former Director of National Intelligence (DNI), John Ratcliffe, has been tapped to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Ratcliffe was awarded the National Security Medal in 2020, the highest intelligence and national security honor.
Trump Throws Some Curveballs
One pick that probably took most people by surprise was Pete Hegseth, nominated to the position of secretary of defense. These days, Hegseth is known as a Fox News co-host, but he is an Army combat veteran who served with the 101st Airborne Division and was awarded two Bronze Stars and two Army Commendation Medals. Democrats and left-leaning journalists are already piling on – mostly pointing out his lack of experience for such a position. Perhaps the question needs to be asked, though, could he possibly do a worse job than the current Pentagon leadership?
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio has been nominated for the position of Secretary of State – another choice that has raised a few eyebrows, particularly among some fervent Trump supporters who have never completely trusted Rubio.
To be sure, this time around, Trump has managed to pull a diverse crowd into his orbit, politically speaking. The president-elect’s partnership with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is one prime example. Another is Trump's selection of former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to fill the position of DNI. Gabbard, a military veteran, has been highly critical of the party she left. She became a Republican in October, and the former House member from Hawaii has given voice to values and concerns very much in line with Trump's.
Mercifully outside the Washington, DC, bubble, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will oversee the Department of Government Efficiency. This is essentially an advisory committee, but the impact it might have on the structure and operation of the federal government is tantalizing.
Trump has also tapped a couple of well-known faces for ambassador positions. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee will be on his way to Israel, while New York Rep. Elise Stefanik will take on the United Nations.
Without a doubt, though, Trump's most controversial pick was Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz for Attorney General. Not necessarily the most popular member of his party, Gaetz has been one of the Department of Justice’s fiercest critics. Of all Trump's nominees, the Florida Republican – rogue or maverick, depending on one's point of view – will probably face the toughest Senate confirmation battle. That is, of course, unless Trump makes a recess appointment.
On several recent occasions, Trump has conceded that one of his biggest issues during his first term in the White House was having to rely on advice from Washington insiders on whom he should appoint to his Cabinet and inner circle. A few of those appointments did not work out well – with some people supposedly on Trump's team sometimes appearing to be actively working against his agenda. The former and future president seems determined not to make the same mistake again, and that is reflected in the selections he is making for his new Cabinet and White House staff.
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