President-elect Donald Trump has wasted no time staffing his incoming administration, announcing a flurry of picks in the last few days alone. With intense jockeying going on at the highest levels of MAGA world, and a slate of cabinet picks yet to be announced, here’s a look at who’s been picked so far.
Vice President JD Vance
JD Vance will be America’s millennial vice president and the second youngest VP in history.
He was serving his first term as senator from Ohio when Trump tapped him to be his running mate.
Vance is seen as the heir-apparent to the MAGA movement adopting economic populist stances and skepticism towards US foreign engagements such as Ukraine funding.
Secretary of State: Marco Rubio
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was first elected senator in 2010.
The son of Cuban immigrants, he is seen as a foreign policy hawk who strongly favors a hard line on Iran and communist China.
Rubio was famously dubbed “Lil Marco” by Trump when he ran against him in the 2016 GOP presidential primary, but his nod to run State represents his growing relationship with President-elect Trump.
Rubio is regarded highly by establishment Republicans, but has lately adopted more economically populist policy positions favored by the MAGA wing of the party.
Secretary of Defense: Pete Hegseth
Trump tapped “Fox & Friends Weekend” host Pete Hegseth to lead the DoD. Hegseth is an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran who has received two Bronze Stars. Hegseth is an unexpected pick for the position, with Sen. Joni Ernst and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard vying for the role. He is a graduate of Princeton University and got his masters from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
Department of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem has been chosen to oversee Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. As Homeland Security secretary Noem will oversee ICE and be tasked with implementing much of President-elect Trump’s deportation and border security plans. The South Dakota governor was once in contention to be Trump’s VP pick, but was taken out of the running after she admited in her memoir she once killed her puppy Cricket after she determined it was “untrainable.”
CIA Director: John Ratcliffe
John Ratcliffe is a former Texas congressman who was Trump’s Director of National Intelligence during his first term.
While serving as head of National Intelligence Ratcliffe denied the unproven allegations made by the “Spies who Lie” that Hunter Biden’s laptop was part of a Russian disinformation campaign.
“Hunter Biden’s laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign,” Ratcliffe told Fox Business Network days after The Post first reported on the Biden family’s extensive overseas business dealings.
Ratcliffe is seen as a hawk on China and has accused the communist country of engaging in a “massive cover-up” of the origins of COVID 19.
UN Ambassador: Elise Stefanik
Rep. Elise Stefanik has been picked to be Trump’s UN ambassador. Stefanik is the fourth highest ranking GOP member of the House, and has been a staunch Trump ally. The upstate New York rep’s selection was cheered by Jewish supporters of the president-elect. Stefanik’s tough questioning about campus antisemitism is widely seen as leading to the firings of the presidents of Harvard and UPenn.
Border Czar: Tom Homan
Tom Homan led Immigration and Custom Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations under President Barack Obama in 2013, before being picked to lead the agency by President Trump in 2017.
As border czar Homan will not have to be approved by the Senate, and Trump has tasked him with overseeing his ambitious deportation plans.
Homan has been a vocal proponent of deportations, and says that he will not allow sanctuary cities to get in the way of President-elect Trump’s initiative to deport over a million criminal migrants.
“We’re going to do the job with you or without you,” he told “Fox & Friends” Monday.
White House Chief of Staff: Susie Wiles
Susie Wiles ran Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign alongside Corey Lewandowski and Chris Lacivita. Wiles is a veteran of Florida politics widely credited with energizing Ron DeSantis’ then-struggling gubernatorial campaign. Wiles, a DC outsider, is widely credited with running the most disciplined of Trump’s three campaigns for president.
Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.): Vivek Ramaswamy, Elon Musk
Biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk have been tapped to run the new Department of Government Efficiencey (D.O.G.E.). Ramaswamy is a businessman who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 before becoming a vocal campaign surrogate for President-elect Trump. Musk previously supported Barack Obama but became a major donor and campaign spokesman for Trump. The Tesla CEO handed out $1 million cash giveaways at a series of townhalls in battleground state Pennsylvania in the leadup to the election.
The Department of Government Efficiency is a new agency established to oversee and reduce federal spending. Its initials spell out D.O.G.E, which is a meme-based crypto currency.
National Security Adviser: Mike Waltz
Rep. Mike Waltz was tapped as serving as Trump’s national security adviser. The Florida congressman was the first Green Beret ever to be elected to the House.
He is seen as a China hawk and has been highly critical of Biden’s botched withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Deputy White House Chief of Staff: Stephen Miller
Stephen Miller served as a senior adviser on immigration during Trump’s first term in office. Miller, 39, is a proponent of strict border enforcement and deportations. Before joining Trump’s orbit Miller previously worked for former Senator Jeff Sessions.
