Trump Appoints Members of His Inner Circle, Loyalists to Key Posts

President Trump is starting to make some of the roughly 4,000 appointments to positions in the federal government he will have to fill when he takes office on January 20. Here’s a look at who he has tapped to be in his administration so far.White House Chief of Staff: Susie WilesTwo days after his election victory, Trump made history by appointing a senior campaign adviser, Susie Wiles, as his White House chief of staff. Ms. Wiles will be the first woman to serve as chief of staff.In a statement announcing the decision, Trump said, “Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns.”“Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again,” he added. A longtime political operative, Ms. Wiles is seen as one of the figures who helped build a more professional campaign than Trump’s previous operations and a key figure behind his political comeback.United Nations Ambassador: Elise StefanikTrump tapped Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who just won re-election to a sixth term, as the American ambassador to the United Nations. He called the New York representative an “incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter.”Ms. Stefanik made headlines last year for her sharp grilling of the heads of prestigious universities over their handling of antisemitism and anti-Israel protests on campus after Hamas’ October 7 attack and her defense of Trump during his first impeachment.Elise Stefanik. AP/Andrew HarnikEPA Chief: Lee ZeldinA former congressman, Lee Zeldin, has been tapped to lead the EPA. Trump said on the appointment, “Lee, with a very strong legal background, has been a true fighter for America First policies. He 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.”In a post on X, Mr. Zeldin wrote, “It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator. We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water.”Mr. Zeldin ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York in 2022. While he lost, he won a larger vote share than any Republican gubernatorial candidate in the state in more than 50 years.Lee Zeldin. Kevon Carter/The New York SunBorder Tsar: Tom Homan A former acting director of ICE, Tom Homan, will be joining the Trump administration as its so-called “border tsar.”Trump announced that Mr. Homan would be “in charge of our nation’s borders,” which does not require Senate confirmation. He explained that the former ICE chief would “be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin.”Mr. Homan told “Fox & Friends” he knows “exactly” what needs to be done on the border front. He told Fox News’s Maria Bartiromo the deportations would be “well-targeted” and a “humane operation.” However, he said, “It’s a necessary mass deportation operation.”Tom Homan speaks as Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump listens at a primary election night party. AP/Matt RourkeDeputy Chief of Staff for Policy: Stephen MillerTrump is expected to appoint a longtime immigration adviser, Stephen Miller, to serve as the White House deputy chief of staff for policy, CNN reported Monday.The decision had not been officially announced on Monday morning, however, Senator Vance congratulated him on the news.Mr. Miller has been a proponent of mass deportations and restricting immigration. He was the architect of Trump’s ban on travel from several Muslim-majority countries during the first Trump administration.Brandon Bell/Getty ImagesTransition teamTrump has a team of allies working to help him build his team and plot out his policy vision. He named the chief executive of the financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, Howard Lutnick, and a chairwoman of the America First Policy Institute, Linda McMahon, as the co-chairs of the transition team. Ms. McMahon, who served in the first Trump administration, has worked with the AFPI to help develop policy ideas and more than 100 executive actions the 47th president can take when he enters the White House. Ms. McMahon and Mr. Lutnick notably do not have connections to Project 2025, a policy and staff guide for a future Republican administration developed by the Heritage Foundation, which Democrats and left-wing journalists sought to cast as a playbook for Trump’s second administration. Trump’s campaign repeatedly denounced the Project 2025 initiative. Trump allies told Politico that they were creating a transition blacklist and that people involved in Project 2025 would be blocked from consideration for jobs in the future administration. Other officials who reportedly can expect to be blacklisted include administration staffers who resigned after the January 6 riot at the Capitol. A senior fellow at the Center for Renewing America, Mark Paoletta, is also a top transition official and is charged with leading the transition at the Justice Department. On Monday, Mr. Paoletta posted on X that career officials at the DOJ who try to block Trump’s agenda should “leave” or face “disciplinary actions, including termination.”Trump is also reportedly receiving input from Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Mr. Vance, and the former independent presidential hopeful, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.Members of the president’s family, such as his children, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., are involved in the transition team. First Lady Melania Trump has named a partner at Goldman Sachs, John Rogers, to help with her staffing decisions.

Trump Appoints Members of His Inner Circle, Loyalists to Key Posts

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