Trump's picks for key positions in his second administration
President-elect Donald Trump has filled the key posts for his second term in office, prioritizing loyalty after feeling bruised and hampered by internal squabbling during his first term.
His first pick happened during the campaign: JD Vance as his vice presidential running mate, elevating a onetime critic who became a loyal ally and at age 39 became the first millennial to join a major-party ticket at a time of deep concern about the advanced age of America’s political leaders.
Now Trump is filling out the rest of this administration. Some of his choices could face difficult confirmation fights in the Senate even with Republicans in control, and two candidates have already withdrawn from consideration. Others are appointments Trump can make without Senate approval.
Here's a look at Trump's choices:
Rubio a Florida Republican senator, was chosen to be the nation's top diplomat. He is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran. Rubio is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His selection punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man" during his own unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House.
Hegseth was a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and had been a contributor with the network since 2014. Hegseth served in the Army National Guard from 2002 to 2021, deploying to Iraq in 2005 and Afghanistan in 2011 and earning two Bronze Stars but lacks senior military and national security experience. His confirmation prospects came into question after a woman told police that Hegseth sexually assaulted her in 2017, according to a detailed investigative report recently made public. Hegseth told police at the time that the encounter had been consensual and has denied any wrongdoing. Other reports have surfaced about his drinking, and questions have been raised about his comments that women should not serve in combat.
Bessent is a former money manager for George Soros, a big Democratic donor, and an advocate for deficit reduction. He founded the hedge fund Key Square Capital Management after working on and off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, Bessent would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary. He told Bloomberg in August that he decided to join Trump’s campaign in part to attack the mounting U.S. national debt. That would include slashing government programs and other spending.
Gabbard is a former Democratic House member from Hawaii who has been accused of echoing Russian propaganda. She unsuccessfully sought the 2020 presidential nomination and left the party in 2022. Gabbard endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him. Gabbard has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades and deployed to Iraq and Kuwait. If confirmed, she would come to the role as an outsider compared to her predecessor, Avril Haines, who several years in top national security and intelligence positions.
Bondi was Florida's first female attorney general, serving from 2011 to 2019. She was on Trump’s legal team during his first impeachment trial in 2020. Bondi also has served with the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-allied group that has helped lay the groundwork for his future administration. She was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his hush-money criminal trial in New York that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts. A fierce defender of Trump, she also frequently appeared on Fox News and has been critical of the criminal cases against him.
Noem is a well-known conservative who used her two terms as South Dakota's governor to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions like other states, instead declaring South Dakota “open for business.” More recently, Noem faced sharp criticism for writing in her memoir about shooting and killing her dog. She is set to lead a department crucial to the president-elect’s hard-line immigration agenda as well as other missions. Homeland Security oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports.
Ratcliffe a former U.S. House member from Texas, was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term. He led the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic. If confirmed, Ratcliffe will have held the highest intelligence positions in the U.S.
Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat, then as an independent before he dropped out and endorsed Trump. He's the son of Democratic icon Robert F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 during his own presidential campaign. Kennedy's nomination alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines. He has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.
McMahon, a billionaire professional wrestling mogul, would make a return appearance in a second Trump administration. She led the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019 in Trump’s first term and twice ran unsuccessfully in Connecticut as a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate. McMahon served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University. She has expressed support for charter schools and school choice.
The Republican U.S. House member narrowly lost her reelection bid on Nov. 5 but had received strong backing from union members in her district. Chavez-DeRemer would oversee the department’s workforce and budget and put forth priorities that affect workers’ wages, health and safety, ability to unionize, and employers' rights to fire employees, among other responsibilities. She’s one of a few House Republicans to endorse the “Protecting the Right to Organize,” or PRO, Act that would allow more workers to conduct organizing campaigns and penalize companies that violate workers’ rights. The act would also weaken “right-to-work” laws that are in place in more than half the states.
Lutnick heads the brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is a cryptocurrency enthusiast. He is co-chair of Trump’s transition operation, charged along with Linda McMahon with helping the president-elect fill key jobs in his second administration. Lutnick would play a key role in carrying out Trump’s plans to raise and enforce tariffs. He would oversee a sprawling Cabinet department whose oversight ranges from funding new computer chip factories and imposing trade restrictions to releasing economic data and monitoring the weather.
Greer is a partner at King & Spalding, a Washington law firm. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be responsible for negotiating directly with foreign governments on trade deals and disputes, as well as memberships in international trade bodies such as the World Trade Organization. He previously was chief of staff to Robert Lighthizer, who was the trade representative in Trump’s first term.
A campaign donor and CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking — a key pillar of Trump’s quest to achieve U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market. He also has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change. Wright said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.” The department is responsible for advancing the energy, environmental and nuclear security of the United States.
Duffy is a former House member from Wisconsin and Fox News host who was one of Trump’s most visible defenders on cable news. Duffy served in the House for nearly nine years, sitting on the Financial Services Committee and chairing the subcommittee on insurance and housing. He left Congress in 2019 for a TV career and has been the host of “The Bottom Line” on Fox Business. Before entering politics, Duffy was a reality TV star on MTV, where he met his wife, “Fox and Friends Weekend” co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy. They have nine children.
The North Dakota governor is a former Republican presidential candidate who endorsed Trump this year after ending his bid. Burgum then became a serious contender to be Trump’s vice presidential choice in part because of his executive experience and business savvy. He also has close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump said Burgum would chair a new National Energy Council and have a seat on the National Security Council, which would be a first for the interior secretary.
Rollins is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping lay the groundwork for Trump’s second administration. She is a Texas attorney who was Trump’s domestic policy adviser and director of his office of American innovation during his first term. Rollins previously was an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who also served in Trump’s first term. Rollins also ran the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Collins is a former Republican congressman from Georgia who gained recognition for defending Trump during his first impeachment trial. Trump was impeached for urging Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden in 2019 during the Democratic presidential campaign, but was acquitted by the Senate. Collins also served in the armed forces himself. He is a chaplain in the United States Air Force Reserve Command.
Turner is a former NFL player and White House aide. He ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump’s first term. Trump credited Turner, the highest-ranking Black person he’s yet selected for his administration, with “helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities.”
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Wiles was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager. She was key to Trump’s defeat of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary. Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns.
Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida. A former Army Green Beret, he served multiple tours in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs. He is considered hawkish on China and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing for the country's role in the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.
Hassett is a major advocate of tax cuts who was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers in the first Trump term. As chair of the National Economic Council, Trump said Hassett will play an important role in helping American families recover from inflation as well as in renewing and improving tax cuts Trump enacted in 2017. Many of those tax cuts are set to expire after 2025.
Homan has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history. He led the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Trump's first administration. Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings in the first term, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border.
Vought held the position during Trump’s first presidency. He founded the Center for Renewing America, a think tank whose mission is to “renew a consensus of America as a nation under God.” Vought also was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that Trump tried to distance himself from during the campaign.
Miller an immigration hard-liner, was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. Miller was senior adviser during Trump’s first term. Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families. Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation’s economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people living illegally in the U.S.
Scavino was an adviser in all three of the president-elect's campaigns and was described by the transition team as one of “Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides." He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president. Scavino previously ran Trump’s social media profile in the White House.
Leavitt, 27, was Trump's campaign press secretary and currently a spokesperson for his transition. She would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Leavitt worked in the White House press office during Trump's first term. In 2022, she ran for Congress in New Hampshire, winning a 10-way Republican primary before losing the general election to Democratic Rep. Chris Pappas.
Warrington has served Trump as his personal attorney and lawyer for the campaign. Trump initially had tapped William McGinley to be White House counsel but three weeks later said he instead was dispatching McGinley to work with his new Department of Government Efficiency. That panel will be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy with the goal of cutting federal spending.
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Witkoff is the president-elect’s golf partner. The two were golfing at Trump’s club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15 when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination. Trump also named Witkoff co-chair of his inaugural committee alongside former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler.
Kellogg is a highly decorated retired three-star general and one of the architects of a staunchly conservative policy book that lays out an “America First” national security agenda for Trump’s second term. He has long been Trump’s top adviser on defense issues and served as national security adviser to Vice President Mike Pence. Kellogg also was chief of staff of the National Security Council under Trump and stepped in as an acting national security adviser for Trump after Michael Flynn resigned from the post.
Boehler is the founder and CEO of Rubicon Founders, a health care investment firm. He also served as the first CEO of the International Development Finance Corp. He would serve as Trump’s lead hostage negotiator at a time when the U.S. is trying to secure the release of prisoners in Gaza and other regions around the world. The role has been held since 2020 by Roger Carstens, who was appointed by Trump and remained in the job throughout the Biden administration.
Former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia would serve as the Trump administration’s envoy to what is expected to be America’s most complicated diplomatic relationship in the years to come. Trump said in a social media post that Perdue, a former business executive, “brings valuable expertise to help build our relationship with China.” Perdue pushed Trump’s debunked lies about mass voter fraud during his failed bid for Georgia governor.
Johnson — not the Republican senator — served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump’s first administration. Johnson is also a former U.S. Army veteran and was in the CIA.
Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the renowned Plaza Hotel. He was charged with using his personal access to the former president to secretly promote the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all counts at a federal trial in 2022.
Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led the fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign and became engaged to Donald Trump Jr. in 2020. The president-elect called her “a close friend and ally” and said her “extensive experience and leadership in law, media, and politics along with her sharp intellect make her supremely qualified” for the role.
The head of the Border Patrol Union, Judd has been a longtime supporter of Trump’s, appearing with him during his visits to the U.S.-Mexico border. He notably supported a Senate immigration bill championed by Biden that Trump sank in part because he didn’t want to give Democrats an election year win on the issue.
Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel, and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests. Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland. Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel. His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, served as White House press secretary in Trump’s first term.
Stefanik is a congresswoman from New York and one of Trump’s staunchest defenders dating to his first impeachment trial. In 2021, she was elected chair of the House Republican Conference, the third-highest position in House leadership, after then-Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post for publicly criticizing Trump's false claims over his 2020 election loss. Stefanik further raised her national profile with her strong questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses, helping lead to the resignations of two of them.
Walker is a former football legend who ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2022 with Trump's backing. In his campaign against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, Walker benefitted from nearly unmatched name recognition from his time at the University of Georgia and in the NFL. But he ultimately was unable to overcome a bevy of damaging allegations, including claims that he paid for two former girlfriends’ abortions despite supporting a national ban on the procedure. Walker also campaigned for Trump this year in Georgia, which Trump won.
A former acting attorney general during Trump’s first administration, Whitaker has a background in law enforcement but not in foreign policy. Whitaker, is also a former U.S. attorney in Iowa and served as acting attorney general between November 2018 and February 2019 until William Barr was confirmed for the role. That was when special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference was drawing to a close. Whitaker also faced questions about his past business dealings, including his ties to an invention-promotion company that was accused of misleading consumers.
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Patel spent several years as a Justice Department prosecutor before catching the Trump administration’s attention as a staffer on Capitol Hill who helped investigate the Russia probe. Patel has called for dramatically reducing the agency’s footprint, a perspective that sets him apart from earlier directors who have sought additional resources for the bureau. And though the Justice Department in 2021 halted the practice of secretly seizing reporters’ phone records during leak investigations, Patel has said he intends to aggressively hunt down government officials who leak information to reporters.
Scott, a career official, was appointed head of Border Patrol in January 2020 and enthusiastically embraced Trump’s policies, particularly on building a U.S.-Mexico border wall. He was forced out by the Biden administration.
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Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan, who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate acquisitions. The replacement of Khan at the FTC likely means that the commission will operate with a lighter touch when it comes to antitrust enforcement.
Atkins, a former SEC commissioner, is the CEO of Patomak Partners and a cryptocurrency advocate. Atkins has argued against too much market regulation, and Trump said Atkins is a “proven leader for commonsense regulations.” The agency oversees U.S. securities markets and investments. The current chairman, Gary Gensler, has been leading the government’s crackdown on the crypto industry.
Navarro was a trade adviser during Trump’s first term. He is a longtime critic of trade arrangements with China. Navarro was held in contempt of Congress and served four months in prison for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
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Oz is a former heart surgeon who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show,” a long-running daytime TV talk show. He won the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022 but lost the general election to Democrat John Fetterman. Oz is an outspoken supporter of Trump, who endorsed his bid for elected office.
Makary is a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns. He routinely appeared on Fox News during the COVID-19 pandemic and wrote opinion articles questioning masks for children. Although not opposed to the COVID-19 vaccine, he voiced concerns about booster vaccinations in young children. He was part of a vocal group of physicians calling for greater emphasis on herd immunity to stop the virus, or the idea that mass infections would quickly lead to population-level protection.
Nesheiwat is a general practitioner who serves as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centers in New York and New Jersey. She has been a contributor on Fox News.
Weldon is a former Florida congressman who recently ran for a state legislative seat and lost. Trump backed Weldon’s opponent in the race. In Congress, Weldon weighed in on one of the nation’s most heated debates of the 1990s: whether Terri Schiavo, who was in a persistent vegetative state after cardiac arrest, should have been allowed to have her feeding tube removed. He sided with the parents who did not want it removed.
Bhattacharya is a critic of pandemic lockdowns and vaccine mandates. As head of the NIH, the leading medical research agency in the United States, Trump said Bhattacharya would work with Kennedy to direct U.S. medical research and make important discoveries that will improve health and save lives. Bhattacharya is a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and was one of three authors of the Great Barrington Declaration, an October 2020 open letter maintaining that lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic were causing irreparable harm.
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Chronister removed himself from consideration to lead the nation's top controlled substances enforcement agency just days after being tapped for the post. Trump later said he was the one who pulled the plug on Chronister's nomination.
Trump's announcement that he would nominate Chronister, who has worked for the Hillsborough County, Florida, Sheriff’s Office since 1992, was met with backlash from some conservative figures over his enforcement of lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic and his past comments that his sheriff’s office was not focused on enforcing federal immigration laws.
Gaetz withdrew from consideration to become the nation's top law enforcement officer amid fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed by the Senate. In choosing Gaetz, Trump had passed over more established lawyers whose names had been floated as possible contenders for the job.
Gaetz resigned from Congress after Trump announced his nomination on Nov. 13. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating an allegation that he paid for sex with a 17-year-old. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing.
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Associated Press writers Colleen Long, Zeke Miller, Farnoush Amiri, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly, Edith M. Lederer, Adriana Gomez Licon, Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian, Michelle L. Price, Will Weissert and Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.
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