During his first tenure, Trump certainly received a pushback from his key appointees, with some even trying to talk him out of his controversial decisions
As United States President-elect Donald Trump is set to make a return to the White House, he is filling the key positions in his upcoming administration, with a special focus on his strongest allies so far. During his first tenure, Trump certainly received a pushback from his key appointees, with some even trying to talk him out of his controversial decisions. This time, Trump is focused on appointing people who seemed to be more inclined towards his agendas than a for pushback.
Trump named Susie Wiles, his campaign chief, as White House chief of staff last week. The 67-year-old campaign chief has a strong background in Florida politics, and her appointment received a huge round of applause from the Floridians even calling it a "first class" and "10/10 pick." Wiles has been one of those Trump loyalists who never criticised him unlike his former UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, and former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo.
According to AP News, the President-elect has picked another loyalist republican representative Mike Waltz, a retired army national guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser. It is a role which does not require Senate confirmation. With this move, Waltz will find himself at the center of various ongoing national security issues from aiding Ukraine with weapons, focus on the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to attacks in the Middle East by Iran's proxies.
Trump had named New York congresswoman, the fourth-ranking House Republican, Elise Stefanik as his pick for UN ambassador calling her "an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter." Elise has been a key fundraiser for the Republican Party and a Trump loyalist who will replace current UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a diplomat who has worked for the US Foreign Service for 35 years.
Trump's 'border czar' Tom Homan was the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement between 2017 and 2018. He was one of the key decision makers of the "zero tolerance" family separation policy during that time. Homan extended his unequivocal support to Trump's view on immigration and recently said that he would boot millions of migrants from the US according to the president-elect's plan without caring about what people think of him especially the left. Homan's "no-nonsense" stance on immigration has gained major support from the republicans.
In a post on X, vice president-elect JD Vance congratulated immigration hawk Stephen Miller on being appointed as the deputy chief of staff.
Miller was not only a White House senior adviser for policy during Trump's 2017-2021 presidency but also a leading advocate of the driving force behind the Republican's wide-ranging immigration crackdown. Policies also included construction of a wall on the US-Mexico border. Miller said that a second Trump administration would seek a tenfold increase in the number of deportations to more than 1 million per year.
Donald Trump had picked former New York congressman Lee Zeldin to lead the environmental protection agency. He vowed that the appointment will “ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions.” Zeldin wrote on X that they will restore US energy dominance, revitalize auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI while protecting access to clean air and water at the same time.
However, the EPA nominee has rarely spoken on environmental or climate issues. In 2014, Zeldin said that he was not sold yet on whole argument around global heating that they have as serious a problem as other people are. He also echoed the same sentiment of disregard as Trump towards the Paris climate agreement.