US President-elect Donald Trumpis gradually building his next administration, with several key appointments announced and more to come in the lead-up to his January 20 inauguration.
With the transformation of the Republican Party in his image, it’s expected Trump loyalists will occupy most administrative positions in his second term.
There’s also a distinctive “home ground” flavor to his team, with most of key appointments hailing from Trump’s residency state of Florida and home state of New York.
Susie Wiles will be Donald Trump’s chief of staff
Trump’s first Cabinet appointment is 67-year-old Republican strategist Susie Wiles. The Floridian is highly regarded among the party and was co-chair of his third run for office. She will become Trump’s chief of staff and is the first woman to hold the post.
The chief of staff oversees the White House operations and manages the president’s policy agenda — in effect, the key adviser across all policy issues.
Wiles has worked in the background to push her candidates forward throughout her career. Like many “back roomers,” she has shunned the limelight, earning her the nickname “ice baby” from the US president-elect, presumably in reference to this reputation and her tendency to eschew public appearances.
Her reputation is formidable. She’s been widely credited for holding the famously off-leash Trump to his most disciplined campaign. With little detail on how she might run the White House, it would be fair to presume she’ll apply similar discipline as chief of staff.
Wiles has long been in Florida-based Trump’s orbit, having also run his Florida campaign in 2016 and 2020, and Rick Scott’s successful 2010 Florida gubernatorial campaign. Scott is now favored to become Senate majority leader after his reelection in Florida’s senatorial race.
Marco Rubio likely to be named secretary of state
Florida Senator Marco Rubio was a Trump rival during in the 2016 primaries, but eventually backed his presidency and supported most of the positions in his first administration.
As secretary of state, Rubio would be responsible for America’s foreign office and would be pivotal in negotiating Trump’s oft-stated positions to wind down conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
He is considered a China hawk and sees America’s Pacific rival as both an economic and geopolitical threat.
Mike Waltz as national security adviser
Florida congressman Michael Waltz has been lined up as Trump’s national security adviser.
Waltz was the first Special Forces officer in Congress, and previously served in Afghanistan.
His wife, Julia Nesheiwat, was the homeland security adviser to Trump at the end of his first term in office. Like Rubio, Waltz is one of China’s biggest congressional critics, aligning him neatly with much of Trump’s anti-China economic rhetoric and tariff threats.
Elise Stefanik accepts UN ambassadorship
House Republican Elise Stefanik has accepted an offer from Trump to be his UN ambassador.
Stefanik has served for a decade as a New York congresswoman and chairs the House Republican Conference. She has been a long-standing supporter of Trump, defending him during both of his impeachments in the House and supporting his agenda three out of four times in House votes.
As UN ambassador, she would replace career diplomat Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who currently leads the US mission. The position was restored to the Cabinet under the Biden administration.
Firebrand adviser Miller named in Trump’s core team
Trump’s former speechwriter and senior adviser, Stephen Miller, will return to the White House under the second administration as deputy chief of staff for policy.
Miller is a hard-right Republican and is considered one of the strongest proponents of Trump’s anti-immigration stance. Among his previous policy endeavors were advocating for the US-Mexico border wall, several controversial deportation policies and Trump’s ban on migrants from some Muslim-majority countries. He has spent the last four years as a conservative civil liberties advocate but made appearances on the campaign trail with Trump.
CNN first reported Miller’s selection on Monday, with Vice President-elect JD Vance congratulating Miller on the social media platform X.
Tom Homan will be Trump’s new ‘border czar’
The term ‘border czar’ was weaponized by the Trump campaign against Kamala Harris when President Joe Biden put her in control of the United States’ southern border, but has now been used to crown one of Trump’s first non-Cabinet appointments.
Tom Homan was an acting director of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the first Trump administration and is to be its new border czar.
At the Republican National Convention in July, Homan proclaimed undocumented migrants should “start packing [their bags] now,” should Trump win the presidency. His hard-line stance will be integral to enacting Trump’s promise to send undocumented migrants back to their home countries — described during the campaign as “the largest deportation operation in American history.”
While the Trump campaign touted figures of 25 million undocumented migrants in America,government reporting and independent analysis estimate there’s about half that number. The cost of enacting such a program has also been widely criticized. The American Immigration Council puts the bill at $315 billion (€293 billion) in total, with $88 billion for a single year of operation.
Lee Zeldin tasked with winding back environment regulations
Former New York congressman Lee Zeldin is another Trump loyalist and is set to take charge of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Posting on X, Zeldin emphasized the incoming administration’s energy agenda — which includes winding back climate-oriented policies — automotive and AI priorities. His only mention of the environment was in “protecting access to clean air and water.”
While it’s unclear which regulations will be priority targets for the Trump administration, the incoming president has put the Paris Agreement in the crosshairs and has repeatedly spoken of a need to increase oil and gas production.
Musk and Kennedy are in, but in what capacity?
Trump is known for rewarding loyalty. Such dedication was nowhere more visible than from tech billionaire Elon Musk, who contributed more than $133 million to the campaign and Robert F. Kennedy, who abandoned his own independent tilt to endorse Trump’s Republican ticket.
Unsurprisingly, Trump cited both Musk and Kennedy in his victory speech.
Previously, Trump has said Musk would lead a federal efficiency commission to cut government spending and bureaucracy, but any role remains unclear due to his extensive private business interests. Even if Musk sits outside the administration, it seems certain policy directives will reward him or at least protect his SpaceX, Telsa and the social media platform, X, companies.
Kennedy is a former environmental lawyer and particularly well-known for his controversial alternative takes on established health science, including his outspoken opposition to vaccines.
Kennedy hasn’t been appointed to any positions yet, but Trump has indicated he’ll have the blessing to “go wild” on health. In the lead-up to the election, Kennedy indicated his desire to overhaul Department of Agriculture policy and compel local authorities to stop fluoridating water supplies.
At an event in Arizona on November 11, he indicated his desire to “act fast” to fire 600 staffers at the National Institutes of Health and replace them with 600 new appointees.
He is a member of the Democrat Kennedy dynasty, the son of former New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy.
Haley, Pompeo left out
Before news of Stefanik’s appointment, Trump announced he would not offer a position to his former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley in his new administration.
Haley, a former North Carolina governor, served in Trump’s first administration as UN ambassador. She unsuccessfully ran against Trump for the Republican 2024 presidential nomination.
Trump has also ruled out including his former CIA director and secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in his next administration. Pompeo has remained a backer of Trump, but as an advocate for America having major influence globally, is now perhaps an ideological outsider.
On November 10, Trump’s son, Donald Jr., reshared a social media post on X from libertarian podcaster Dave Smith praising Pompeo’s omission from the new line-up. The Wall Street Journal also suggested the exclusion of the pair from roles to minimize competition for JD Vance in the 2028 primaries.
Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu, Martin Kuebler
