Former United States President Donald Trump will return to the White House in January. Although talks have not yet begun to form his new cabinet, rumors and speculation about the people who could hold positions in the Republican’s administration have circulated among his plane trips, political rallies and television appearances.
Elon Musk
Now a full-fledged Trumpist, the owner of social network X has contracts with the United States Government worth billions of dollars. Musk has apparently been seeking a position that would give him responsibility over the regulators who oversee his businesses. Trump appears to have ruled out the possibility of Musk taking a position in his cabinet, but has said that he wants the tech billionaire within his administration, performing some type of role that he has not specified. Musk, the richest person on the planet, has proposed the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency.
Mike Pompeo
An ally and devotee of Trump, Mike Pompeo was director of the CIA and secretary of state during his first term. After deciding not to compete for the Republican nomination with his former boss, Pompeo is considered by many to be a key contender for important positions in the new administration. A firm supporter of Israel and a staunch enemy of Iran, his name is being considered for the position of Secretary of Defense.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
During the presidential campaign, the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reached 10% in voting intention. After giving his support to Trump, the son of the assassinated Bobby Kennedy and nephew of JFK seriously believes that he has a chance of winning a position in the Republican’s cabinet.
Trump’s campaign team ruled out Kennedy getting a position in the Department of Health, but the now president-elect said that, if he reached the White House, he would be allowed to “do whatever he wanted” with women’s health care. while I would let him “let off steam” with food and medicine.
Richard Grenell
The former contributor to the right-wing Fox News channel is one of Trump’s closest foreign policy advisors. He will most likely be in the running to lead the State Department or other relevant foreign policy and national security positions. During the Republican’s first term he was US ambassador to Germany and a firm defender abroad of ‘America First’, Trump’s creed. He has advocated the creation of an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine to end the war, a position kyiv considers unacceptable.
Tom Cotton
In the final weeks of the process to select Trump’s running mate, far-right Arkansas Republican and Senator Tom Cotton emerged as a surprise candidate with a chance for the vice presidency. In ‘Send the Army’, a widely read opinion article that he published in 2020 in The New York TimesCotton assimilated the protests of the movement Black Lives Matter to a rebellion. Relying on the Insurrection Law, he requested that the Government deploy the military against the protesters. He is very popular among Trump donors and his name is also among candidates for the position of defense secretary.
Ben Carson
Retired neurosurgeon and Secretary of Housing during the first Trump Administration, Ben Carson has called for a national ban on abortion, a position not shared by the majority of Americans and not even by Trump himself. When he was running for the Republican nomination in 2016, he caused controversy by comparing abortion to slavery and saying that he wanted to see the end of the Roe v. Wade ruling (which had guaranteed the right to abortion in the US since the 1970s). XX until 2022). When the US Supreme Court overturned that historic ruling, Carson said it was a “crucial correction.” Trump could appoint Carson as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
Scott Bessent
Manager of the Key Square macro venture capital fund, Scott Bessent is an ally of JD Vance and one of Trump’s main economic advisors. Considered a possible candidate for the Cabinet, this Wall Street investor and prominent campaign fundraiser has praised Trump’s negotiating strategy with the threat of tariffs.
Mike Waltz
Former US military man and current congressman from Florida, Michael Waltz has cemented his reputation in the House of Representatives as one of the leading advocates of a tougher China policy. He played a leading role in sponsoring laws that reduced American dependence on Chinese-sourced minerals.
It is known that he maintains a solid friendship with Trump. While he has expressed support for military assistance to Ukraine, he has also pushed for improved oversight of U.S. taxpayer funds going to Ukraine’s defense. American media have mentioned him as a possible Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State.
Robert Lighthizer
Robert Lighthizer is the most senior trade person on Trump’s team. A firm supporter of tariffs, he was one of the main characters in Trump’s trade war against China. “The best American trade representative in American history,” Trump said of him. It seems almost certain that Lighthizer will return to the cabinet.
Both Scott Bessent and billionaire and hedge fund manager John Paulson have a better chance than him of becoming Treasury secretary, but Lighthizer has other options: reprising his former role as US trade representative and becoming the new commerce secretary.
Brooke Rollins
Former domestic policy advisor in the White House, Brooke Rollins maintains a close personal relationship with Trump. Considered one of the Republican’s most moderate advisors, she supported the reform of the criminal code that the former president undertook in his first term, reducing prison sentences for several relatively minor crimes. She is seen as a leading contender for the chief of staff position.
Susie Wiles
Susie Wiles could compete with Rollins for the chief of staff position. Although the political views of this Trump co-campaign manager remain somewhat ambiguous, the general impression is that she has run an agile and effective presidential campaign. His supporters believe he could introduce an element of organization and discipline, often absent during Trump’s first term, in which there were several changes to the chief of staff position.
Donald Trump Jr.
In this campaign he had less prominence than in previous ones, but the eldest son of the president-elect has remained active behind the scenes and has contributed to the appointment of his friend JD Vance as vice president. He has gained loyal followers of the Maga universe thanks to his podcast ‘Triggered’ and, together with his brother Eric Trump, has assumed a role in the transition process. Those who will officially lead the transition are Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald; and Linda McMahon, the former wrestling executive who during Trump’s first term led the Small Business Administration.
Stephen Miller
The man who was a high-ranking political advisor at the beginning of the first Trump Administration will return to the White House for a second term in which, according to the president-elect, the largest mass deportation in the history of the United States will be carried out. Stephen Miller, anti-immigration extremist and main architect of the anti-Muslim veto, is the founder of America First Legal, an organization that he describes as the right’s “long-awaited answer” to the American Civil Liberties Union. He is already contributing to plans for a second Trump term.
With information from the Reuters agency. Translation of Francisco de Zárate
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