Trump has announced that Susie Wiles will serve as his chief of staff, is expected to nominate Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, and chose Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
Trump has announced that Susie Wiles will serve as his chief of staff, is expected to nominate Marco Rubio as his secretary of state, and chose Kristi Noem to serve as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
It’s been a week since former President Donald Trump was elected to a second term, and over the weekend, the public got its first clear signs of what that term will look like.
Trump has announced a slew of nominees and appointments to key White House and Cabinet posts, with more expected to come in the weeks ahead.
Those appointed so far are mainly campaign aides and congressional allies who supported his reelection bid. Let’s delve into who they are.
Susie Wiles, White House chief of staff
Trump has chosen Susie Wiles, who served as the co-chair of his 2024 presidential campaign, to serve as his White House chief of staff.
Wiles has a long background in Florida politics. She’s widely credited with saving Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ struggling 2018 campaign. Wiles later split with DeSantis, and the governor then convinced the Trump team to cut ties with her during the then-president’s 2020 reelection campaign.
Wiles returned to the Trump team ahead of the 2024 campaign, however, and helped defeat DeSantis’ primary campaign last year, ultimately propelling Trump further to the presidency.
Wiles was also the co-chair of Sen. Mitt Romney’s Florida advisory council during his 2012 presidential bid, and ran Sen. Rick Scott’s 2010 campaign for Florida governor.
Wiles also serves as a leader of the lobbying giant Mercury, and lobbied for the tobacco company Swisher International while running the Trump campaign. Mercury’s clients include AT&T, the Embassy of Qatar, and SpaceX, Elon Musk’s astronautics company, although Wiles is not registered to lobby for any of these clients.
Mike Waltz, national security advisor
Retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran Rep. Mike Waltz will serve as Trump’s national security advisor.
Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from the eastern coast of Florida. In addition to serving multiple tours in Afghanistan, he also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld were defense chiefs during the Bush administration.
In this position, Waltz will oversee a number of national security crises including the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea, and the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas wars.
Waltz is considered “hawkish” on China, and called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to the country being the place where the COVID-19 pandemic originated.
Tom Homan, ‘border czar’
Former police officer, immigration official, and political commentator Tom Homan has been dubbed Trump’s “border czar” and will be responsible for carrying out the former president’s top priority: the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.
Homan has insisted that such a massive undertaking would be humane, although he’s considered the father of Trump’s zero tolerance policy that separated thousands of children from their parents at the US-Mexico border during his first presidency. More than 1,300 of these families remain separated.
At a Conservative Political Action Conference last year, Homan said he was “sick and tired” of hearing about family separation.
“I’m still being sued over that, so come get me,” he said. “I don’t give a shit, right? Bottom line is: We enforced the law.”
Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
Another central figure in Trump’s family separation policy, Stephen Miller has been named Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy.
The 39-year-old served as a senior advisor during Trump’s first presidency, and was a vocal spokesperson regarding mass deportations during his 2024 campaign.
Like Homan, Miller has vehemently defended the first Trump presidency’s immigration policies. He’s also known for pushing rhetoric about how immigration threatens the United States and has advocated for restrictions on legal immigration.
Since 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers. The organization’s aims include challenging the Biden-Harris administration, media companies, universities and more over issues such as free speech and national security.
Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency administrator
Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, despite the fact that he doesn’t appear to have any experience in environmental issues.
Zeldin is, however, a longtime supporter of the former president.
“We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI,” Zeldin wrote on X over the weekend. “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”
Trump said in a statement that Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”
While on the campaign trail, Trump was highly critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s clean energy investments, even telling oil executives earlier this year that he would reverse dozens of its environmental policies if they donated to his campaign.
“Drill, baby, drill,” Trump often told audiences during the campaign, referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration.
Zeldin’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Elise Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
Trump has chosen New York Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as United Nations ambassador.
Like many other Republicans when Trump took office in 2017, Stefanik initially kept her distance. She even publicly criticized his 2017 executive order which banned citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States.
Throughout the duration of Trump’s term, however, she became one of his staunchest supporters.
Stefanik has served in the House since 2014. In 2021, her GOP colleagues in the chamber named her House Republican Conference chair.
Mike Huckabee, US ambassador to Israel
Trump announced on Tuesday that he’s chosen former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the US ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee served as Arkansas’ governor from 1996 to 2007. He’s also the father of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, the current governor of the state and Trump’s former White House press secretary.
Huckabee “loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him,” the president-elect said in a statement. After all, Huckabee said in 2018 that he dreams of building a “holiday home” in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
He’s a longtime supporter of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. In 2017, he even laid a cornerstone for a new neighborhood in one of the largest settlements east of Jerusalem.
Huckabee’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Marco Rubio, secretary of state
Trump has chosen Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be his secretary of state, the president’s top international affairs advisor.
Trump and Rubio were rivals in the 2016 Republican primary, famously exchanging barbs during the televised primary debates.
The two have since repaired their relationship, as Rubio campaigned for Trump this year and was considered a potential vice presidential pick.
Rubio is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and is the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He’s also considered “hawkish” on China and Iran.
Rubio’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Kristi Noem, Department of Homeland Security secretary
Trump has nominated South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who gained national attention earlier this year when it was revealed that she killed her dog for having an “aggressive personality,” to be secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Noem has served as South Dakota’s governor since 2019 and previously served in the House of Representatives from 2011 to 2019. She also served in the South Dakota state House from 2007 to 2011.
As DHS secretary, Noem would be responsible for overseeing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Customs and Border Protection, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the US Secret Service, TSA, and the Coast Guard, despite the fact that she has no significant experience dealing with homeland security issues.
Noem has, however, been a vocal supporter of Trump’s hardline immigration policies.
She said in January that there was an “invasion” of migrants at the US-Mexico border and that her administration was considering helping Texas deter immigration. In response to her comments, the Oglala Sioux Tribe in South Dakota banned her from their reservation.
Noem has additionally criticized the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the border, and has dodged questions regarding the pardoning of Jan. 6 rioters and Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Noem’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Peter Hegseth, Department of Defense secretary
On Tuesday, Trump nominated Fox News host Peter Hegseth to lead the Department of Defense.
Hegseth co-hosts “Fox & Friends Weekend,” and has been a contributor to the network for a decade. He developed a close rapport with Trump during the president-elect’s regular appearances on the show.
The nominee is a military veteran himself, having served as an infantry officer in the Army National Guard overseas in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as at Guantanamo Bay, although he lacks national security and senior military experience.
He has however, previously lobbied Trump to release service members accused of war crimes. The effort was successful, and in 2019, the president-elect pardoned a former US Army commando who had been set to stand trial for the killing of a suspected Afghan bomb-maker. Trump also pardoned a former Army lieutenant convicted of murder and ordered a promotion for a decorated Navy SEAL convicted of posing with a dead Islamic State captive in Iraq.
Hegseth has also questioned the role of women in the military, as he believes the US military generally needs to be more lethal.
“Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat means casualties are worse,” Hegseth said during a recent interview to promote his new book. “I’m straight up just saying that we should not have women in combat roles — it hasn’t made us more effective, hasn’t made us more lethal, has made fighting more complicated.”
Hegseth’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
John Ratcliffe, CIA director
Trump has also nominated former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Ratcliffe represented Texas’ 4th district in the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2020, and served as DNI during Trump’s last year in office.
While in Congress, Ratcliffe was one of Trump’s fiercest defenders, especially during the president-elect’s first impeachment proceedings. Ratcliffe served on the impeachment advisory team and strenuously questioned witnesses.
During his time in the latter role, Ratcliffe, along with several other officials, accused Iran of being responsible for emails meant to intimidate voters just weeks before the 2020 presidential election.
Ratcliffe’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Matt Gaetz, US attorney general
Trump also announced on Wednesday that he’s nominating Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, a staunch Trump loyalist, to serve as US attorney general.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote that Gaetz “has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.”
If Gaetz is confirmed by the Senate, he’ll succeed Attorney General Merrick Garland, who led the Justice Department in carrying out a sex-trafficking investigation into the congressman. Gaetz was accused of being part of a scheme that led to the sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl. Ultimately, the DOJ declined to charge Gaetz.
Gaetz is also currently the subject of an ongoing House Ethics Committee investigation into whether he engaged in sexual misconduct or illicit drug use. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing, and said in September that he would no longer “voluntarily participate” in the probe.
Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence
Trump announced on Wednesday that former Democratic presidential candidate and former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard will serve as director of national intelligence.
“For over two decades, Tulsi has fought for our country and the freedoms of all Americans,” the president-elect said in a statement. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community, championing our constitutional rights, and securing peace through strength.”
Gabbard served four terms as a Democratic congresswoman and ran against President Biden in the 2020 primaries. She left the party in 2022, but did not officially become a Republican until earlier this year.
In August, Gabbard criticized the Biden administration’s foreign policy and endorsed Trump for president.
Over the years, Gabbard has been accused of peddling disinformation and it’s been suggested that she could even be a Russian asset.
Gabbard’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Department of Health and Human Services secretary
Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Jr. to serve as secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), despite the fact that he has no medical or public health degrees and has promoted anti-vaccine conspiracies for years.
In August, Kennedy suspended his own campaign for president and endorsed Donald Trump.
During his campaign, Kennedy proposed policies aimed at overhauling environmental and food safety guidelines. He additionally proposed restructuring public funding for vaccine research and promoted holistic medicines. His ideas have alarmed experts and sparked fear among government health employees.
Kennedy has also claimed that America’s mass shooting epidemic is linked to violent video games and the use of antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). He’s also spread conspiracy theories that claim that WiFi causes cancer and that chemicals in drinking water are making children transgender.
“The safety and health of all Americans is the most important role of any administration, and HHS will play a big role in helping ensure that everybody will be protected from harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceutical products, and food additives that have contributed to the overwhelming health crisis in this country,” Trump said in a post on X.
“Mr. Kennedy will restore these agencies to the traditions of gold standard scientific research, and beacons of transparency, to end the chronic disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again!”
As the top health official in the US, Kennedy would be responsible for overseeing the operations of the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, and Medicaid, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, and the National Institutes of Health.
RFK Jr.’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Doug Burgum, Department of the Interior secretary
On Thursday, Trump announced North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as his nominee for secretary of the interior.
During an America First Policy Institute event at Mar-a-Lago, Trump said that Burgum is “going to head the Department of the Interior, and he’s going to be fantastic.”
Burgum was a familiar face on the campaign trail, regularly stumping for Trump after he dropped out of the presidential race last year. Trump reportedly considered selecting him as his running mate before settling on Vice President-elect JD Vance.
Burgum has a background in business, specifically in real estate and venture capital. He was first elected governor in 2016, and won reelection in 2020. Burgum opted not to seek a third term in 2024.
If confirmed, Burgum would be tasked with carrying out Trump’s campaign pledge to “drill baby, drill.” This catchphrase refers to the president-elect’s support for expanded petroleum exploration. Burgum is also likely to open up more opportunities to drill in public lands and offshore, although it will be up to privately-owned companies whether they want to take advantage of those opportunities.
As interior secretary, Burgum would also be responsible for the millions of acres of federal land across the country. He’d also oversee the Fish and Wildlife Service, which makes decisions about protecting certain species and their habitats. Plus, he’d be in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which works with tribal communities across the US.
Burgum’s nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Doug Collins, Veterans Affairs secretary
Former Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia has been nominated to be the secretary for veterans affairs by the president-elect.
“Doug is a veteran himself, who currently serves our nation as a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command, and fought for our country in the Iraq War,” Trump said in a statement.
“We must take care of our brave men and women in uniform, and Doug will be a great advocate for our active duty service members, veterans, and military families to ensure they have the support they need,” he added.
Collins was one of the Republicans who defended Trump during the president-elect’s first impeachment proceedings.
Collins served in the House from 2013 to 2021. He unsuccessfully lobbied Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to name him to the Senate vacancy that became available after then-Sen. Johnny Isakson stepped down in 2019. During a special election primary in 2020, Collins came in third to Kemp’s eventual pick, Sen. Kelly Loeffler, as well as Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who ultimately won a 2021 runoff.
Collins’ nomination will need to be approved by the Senate after Trump’s inauguration.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, Department of Government Efficiency heads
Trump also announced on Tuesday that Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, named after Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency.
The president-elect said in a statement that the department — which will work outside the government in a private capacity — will “pave the way” for Trump’s second administration to “dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies.”
Additionally, Trump said that the new department “will provide advice and guidance from outside of government” and work with the White House and Office of Management & Budget to “drive large scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach.”
Musk is the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla and owns the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. He’s also known for his role in the founding of the Boring Company, xAI, Neuralink, and OpenAI, and is the world’s richest person. Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur who founded Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, in 2014.
Musk and Ramaswamy’s companies both have business contracts with the government or have regulatory conflicts with the government. By having DOGE operate outside of the government, neither man will have to divest their business holdings, which they would have to do if they joined the Trump administration.
