DDuring Donald Trump’s first administration, the vice president became a target of an angry mob amid calls for him to be hanged. His top diplomat was fired via Twitter and branded “stupid as a stone.” His first attorney general was given his marching orders and condemned as “very weak” and “disgraceful”.
Despite all this, Trump returned to the White House in January despite the fact that his first attorney general pick, Matt Gaetz, was forced to withdraw amid allegations of sexual misconduct. He has had no trouble recruiting a motivated team.
President Trump’s second-term Cabinet is nearly complete, just three weeks after his stunning election victory over Kamala Harris. To his MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) followers, this team is poised to eviscerate the federal bureaucracy and “America First” isolationism and carry out a plan of mass deportation. , a team with all kinds of talent.
But to critics with memories of Trump’s first Cabinet, it is little more than an ideological hodgepodge glued together only by unquestioning loyalty to the incoming 78-year-old commander-in-chief. Some liken this to the gathering of exotic aliens at a bar in Star Wars. Some predict it will soon become a rat-in-a-bag battle, with various factions vying for President Trump’s attention.
“The same thing that happened last time will happen again,” said Rick Wilson, co-founder of the anti-Trump group The Lincoln Project. “He can’t resist chaos. It’s his medicine. He eventually starts doing what he always does, relying on different people and punching bags for his own choices for these different jobs.” Sho.
“That’s his pattern. One day he comes out and says, ‘I love so-and-so,’ and the next day he says to his friends, ‘Do you think Tillerson is doing a good job? Or do you think he’s messing with me?” These are patterns we’ve seen in Trump’s personal life, his business life, and his previous administration. An 80-year-old man does not become a changed person. ”
Eight years ago, Mr. Trump arrived in Washington as a political novice in need of help. He appointed a cabinet that included traditional conservatives whom he knew little about. This time, he returns as the former president who transformed the Republican Party, prioritizing unwavering loyalty and adherence to policy over qualifications and experience.
Nowhere was this more evident than in President Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants, pardon the January 6th rioters, and seek retribution against those who prosecuted him over the past four years. It was the election of Gates as attorney general. Mr. Gaetz’s successor, Pam Bondi, a longtime ally, declared after Mr. Trump’s criminal indictment that “law enforcement agencies will be investigated.”
A similar motive was behind the choice of former Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary despite his lack of track record in government. Hegseth is aligned with the movement to purge the military of supposedly “woke” policies. He has denied charges in a police report that he sexually assaulted a woman at a conference in California in 2017.
President Trump’s choices are sending mixed economic signals. The nomination of Wall Street billionaire Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary signals an attempt to reassure markets (George Soros, whom Bessent has previously been the target of countless right-wing conspiracy theories), suggests an attempt to reassure markets. It is also worth noting that he worked under But Commerce Secretary nominee Howard Lutnick praised the president-elect’s tariff proposal. Vice President-elect JD Vance is also pushing for more protectionist policies on trade.
And President Trump’s choice of Rep. Lori Chavez Delemer of Oregon to be secretary of labor could be one of the rare picks that garners bipartisan support. She is considered one of the most union-friendly Republicans in Congress, and her selection was seen as a way for President Trump to reward union members who voted for him.
On foreign policy, President Trump made the relatively conventional choice of appointing Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. The Florida senator has advocated for a strong foreign policy in the past against adversaries such as China, Iran and Cuba. However, the president-elect also intends to appoint Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who has made statements sympathetic to Russia, as director of national intelligence.
Other candidates include Brooke Rollins, president of the America First Policy Institute think tank, for agriculture secretary. Doug Burgum, a wealthy former software company executive, will become Secretary of the Interior. Linda McMahon, the former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, will become secretary of education, overseeing an agency that President Trump has vowed to eliminate.
Then there’s Robert Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and skeptic of established science. Mr. Kennedy’s background as an environmental lawyer could put him at odds with Mr. Trump’s “drill, baby, drill” philosophy and figures such as Lee Zeldin, who will lead the Environmental Protection Agency with a mission to reduce environmental regulations. There is. President Kennedy has also been criticized by former Vice President Mike Pence and other social conservatives for supporting abortion rights.
Outside of Cabinet, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Ministry of Government Efficiency lacks official authority but has shown itself to be a strong advocate of deep budget cuts and deregulation. And despite his campaign’s denials, President Trump embraced the Heritage Foundation’s controversial plan, Project 2025, by appointing people like Russell Vought to head the Office of Management and Budget.
A prominent thinker on what can be done to protect civil liberties and fundamental freedoms under President Trump’s administration. From our opinion desk.
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The person who needs to make sense of it all is Susie Wiles, a longtime Florida political operative and the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. She will likely hope to avoid the fate of Trump’s chiefs of staff, who failed to survive President Trump’s first term, as she tries to knit a disparate group of athletes together like a sports coach.
David Sanger, who has covered five US presidents, identified the “revenge team,” “market pacification team,” and “government reduction team” in his analysis for the New York Times, and commented as follows: How they mesh and where they collide is one of the biggest unknowns for the next administration. ”
But some argue that the breadth of experience and worldview of Cabinet members becomes inconsequential against their dedication to Trump admirers. “Regardless of these people’s individual ideological leanings at various points in their adult lives, the only litmus test we have presented is absolute loyalty to Donald Trump,” Democratic strategist Kurt Bardella said. Therefore, it is largely irrelevant.”
“As we have seen across the Republican Party, absolute loyalty to Donald Trump overshadows any ideological beliefs. This party is no longer a party ruled by ideology. It is ruled by loyalty to Donald Trump.
Bardella, a former Republican congressional aide, added: “They all just get together in a room and say, ‘Here’s what we think.’ What do you think, Mr. President? Oh, okay, that’s what we’re all going to do. The idea that there would be such a heated debate is ridiculous.”
Notably, while Trump’s Cabinet is more diverse than it was in his first term, there are still only three people of color in secretarial positions. Rubio will be the first Latino to serve as the top diplomat in the United States. Bessent could become the first openly gay Republican Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate. Gabbard will be the first Pacific Islander to serve as Director of National Intelligence.
But veteran Trump watchers see nothing in the madness and suspect the former reality TV star will act impulsively again and thrive on conflict. “I don’t think there’s any evidence that President Trump has learned anything about governing since his first term,” said Chris Whipple, author of “The Gatekeepers,” a book about White House chiefs of staff. .
“Among many commentators, OK, he’s had a four-year term, he’s learned a lot, he’s spent all this time planning with Project 2025 and the America First Policy Institute, and he’s There’s a lot of wishful thinking that says, “This guy is the right guy for the job, and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a cool last name.” I see no evidence that there is any plan. ”
