Donald Trump’s new cabinet is filling up and the president-elect’s power base is formed of some new and familiar faces.
Keith Kellogg is the latest appointment – the retired general will serve as Mr Trump’s special envoy for the Russia-Ukraine War – and is one of the more conventional choices the soon to be 47th president has made for his top team.
Ending the war has been a central part of Mr Trump’s election campaign; he claimed during the presidential race that he would find a solution to end the war “within a day” after taking office.
So far, vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr and the world’s richest man (and born-again Trump evangelist) Elon Musk are just two of the eye-catching picks for Mr Trump’s top team.
The president-elect needs to recruit 25 cabinet members and countless staff as he aims to deliver on his promise to “make America great again” a second time. Usually, the roles need Senate approval and involve plenty of back-and-forth if Democrats, or indeed any concerned Republicans, attempt to block the appointments.
Mr Trump, however, has recently floated the idea of bypassing this altogether though a constitutional loophole known as “recess appointments”. This means that he could technically bypass Senate confirmation and force some pretty controversial characters into top White House roles.
Here are some key names in Team Trump 2.0.
Keith Kellogg – Special Envoy for the Russia-Ukraine war
Lt Gen Kellogg is a familiar face in the Trump world having served as the national security advisor to Mr Trump’s vice-president, Mike Pence, during his first presidency, and later as the chief of staff of the National Security Council.
The 80-year-old is a retired lieutenant general in the US Army and Vietnam War veteran and has already shared his ideas for ending the war. In a research paper published by a pro-Trump think tank, the retired general blamed President Biden’s government for the war, called for the US to continue arming Ukraine in its defence against Russia and urged tougher negotiations between the countries.
I am honored by @realDonaldTrump's appointment to serve as Assistant to the President and Special Envoy for Ukraine and Russia. It was the privilege of my life working for President Trump, and I look forward to working tirelessly to secure peace through strength while upholding… pic.twitter.com/Nj6TFFEyui
— Keith Kellogg (@generalkellogg) November 27, 2024
Speaking of Lt Gen Kellogg’s appointment on his social media platform, Mr Trump said that he was “with me right from the beginning”, while Lt Gen Kellogg told Fox News earlier this month that the war would be Mr Trump’s “biggest thing” to solve.
Pam Bondi - Attorney General
The former attorney general of Florida is a long-time ally of Mr Trump.
She was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment in 2019 when he was accused of – but not found to have – abused his power as he tried to set up conditions for US military assistance to Ukraine.
The 59-year-old was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Mr Trump at his hush-money criminal trial in New York, which ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts.
A long-time Democrat before joining the Republicans in 2000, she has additionally chaired the America First Policy Institute, a think tank set up by former Trump administration staffers.
Chris Wright – Energy Secretary
Mr Wright, a big name in the oil and gas industry, is Mr Trump’s pick for energy secretary.
I am honored and grateful for the opportunity from @realDonaldTrump to serve our country as U.S. Secretary of Energy. My dedication to bettering human lives remains steadfast, with a focus on making American energy more affordable, reliable, and secure. Energy is the lifeblood… pic.twitter.com/IfjMQw9xKi
— Chris Wright (@ChrisAWright_) November 16, 2024
Mr Wright – a climate sceptic with no political experience – is the founder and CEO of Liberty Energy, which promotes the service of fracking.
The appointment serves Mr Trump’s election campaign motto, “Drill, baby, drill”. In a video on his LinkedIn page, he says: “There is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition either.”
Robert F Kennedy Jr – Health Secretary
An anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and environmental lawyer, RFK was announced as the president-elect’s health secretary.
Speaking at a rally before the election, Mr Trump said that Mr Kennedy – who is better known as RFK – would have a “big role in the administration” and that he’d let him “go wild on food” and “go wild on medicines”.
Mr Kennedy has suggested he plans to ban fluoride in water, despite a body of scientific evidence suggesting it helps people’s teeth.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – Department of Government Efficiency
Mr Musk, 53, is set to co-lead a new department: the Department of Government Efficiency (which shares its abbreviation, Doge, with crypto-currency dogecoin).
The Doge will operate outside the confines of government and “pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies”, the president-elect said.
Mr Musk’s co-lead is another billionaire and American entrepreneur with a background in business, Vivek Ramaswamy, who was an early contender for the Republican nomination.
Linda McMahon – Education Secretary
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) co-founder Linda McMahon, 76, is Mr Trump’s pick for education secretary.
She has run for a Senate seat twice – and failed both times. Nevertheless, she has carved out a political career thanks to Mr Trump and led the Small Business Administration during his first term in the White House.
She was on Connecticut's board of education between 2009 and 2010 but it is unclear what other experience she can draw from in her new role.
Mr Trump said Ms McMahon would "use her decades of leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers".
Mehmet Oz – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Mehmet Oz is best known to Americans as Dr Oz, thanks to the eponymous daytime TV show he’s fronted for decades. But now, he’ll be using his medical knowledge entirely differently.
The TV doctor, 64, will lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under RFK Jr’s health remit.
Like RFK Jr, Dr Oz was criticised for pushing misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic when he claimed malaria drugs could cure the virus.
Nevertheless, Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social: “There may be no Physician more qualified and capable than Dr. Oz to Make America Healthy Again.”
Pete Hegseth – Secretary of Defense
The 44-year-old Fox News host served in the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq but has no senior national security experience.
Politically, he has positioned himself firmly on the right, championing an anti-woke agenda and lobbying for the pardoning of service members charged with war crimes. He has also questioned the role of women in combat.
“Everything about men and women serving together makes the situation more complicated, and complication in combat, that means casualties are worse,” he once said on a podcast.
Susie Wiles – Chief of Staff
In Mr Trump’s victory speech on November 7, he referred to Susie Wiles as “the ice maiden”.
Ms Wiles was the de facto manager of Mr Trump’s election campaign and was considered the favourite for the position. The daughter of former American footballer Pat Summerall will become the first woman in history to be chief of staff.
The 67-year-old’s political career stretches back to the 1970s when she was an assistant to Jack Kemp, a Republican representative for New York and former professional American football player who played alongside her father.
She also worked on Ronald Reagan’s presidential campaign and Dan Quayle’s vice-presidential campaign in 1988.
Tom Homan – ‘Border czar’
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A large part of Mr Trump’s presidential campaign was his pledge to launch the biggest deportation of undocumented migrants in the country’s history. Tom Homan, the former director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been chosen to get the job done.
Former president Barack Obama appointed Mr Homan, 62, as the executive associate director of ICE in 2013. Mr Trump promoted him to acting director during his first stint as president in 2017.
Although Mr Obama rejected Mr Homan’s proposal for a contentious family separation policy to deter immigrants from entering the US illegally, Mr Trump supported the idea. He introduced it as a “zero-tolerance” immigration enforcement policy in 2018.
Elise Stefanik – Ambassador to the UN
The BBC reported on November 12 that New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, 40, had become an ambassador to the United Nations.
The BBC said she was a long-time Mr Trump ally and a staunch supporter of Israel. She has reportedly criticised the UN for what she argues is a lack of sufficient backing for its war against Hamas elected to Congress.
Over the past decade, Ms Stefanik shifted from moderately conservative to the far right.
Marco Rubio – Secretary of State
The president-elect has nominated Marco Rubio, 53, as his secretary of state. Mr Rubio is the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee and was considered for Mr Trump's vice-president shortlist earlier this year.
He has previously called for a stronger foreign policy to be introduced, especially against China, Iran and Cuba.
Mr Rubio ran for president unsuccessfully in 2016 against Mr Trump.
Tulsi Gabbard – Director of National Intelligence
Former Democrat turned Republican riding star Tulsi Gabbard was selected to lead America’s spy agencies and intelligence.
Although she doesn’t have a traditional intelligence background, she was previously in the military. Gabbard believes the US shouldn’t be involved in overseas conflicts and regime changes.
