Donald Trump has moved quickly to name candidates for the top jobs in his incoming administration. The picks show that loyalty appears to have been a crucial criteria for a post — and in many cases, the president-elect’s picks have shocked Washington’s political establishment.
Many of the nominees could face gruelling Senate confirmation hearings in the new year before they are confirmed, but here is a handy guide to those likely to be among the most powerful players in the second Trump White House.
Marco Rubio
Secretary of state
Florida senator Marco Rubio, 53, is set to become America’s chief diplomat in Trump’s second administration. Rubio, a former political rival to Trump, is known for his hawkish views on China and Iran — and is not as isolationist as some other Trump allies.
Pete Hegseth
Secretary of defence
Pete Hegseth is a 44-year-old army veteran and Fox News host with no government experience who has been asked to lead an organisation with almost 3mn military and civilian employees. Hegseth’s views of the US military align with Trump’s instincts, including rooting out “socially correct garbage”.
Susie Wiles
White House chief of staff
Trump’s first decision after winning the 2024 presidential election was to pick his campaign manager, Susie Wiles, as chief of staff. Wiles, 67, is a seasoned Republican campaign operative who has established herself inside Trump’s orbit, in part by keeping the public spotlight on others.
John Ratcliffe
CIA director
John Ratcliffe, 59, director of national intelligence in the final year of Trump’s first term, is a staunch ally who sharply criticised special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election when he was a congressman.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Government efficiency
Elon Musk, 53, and Vivek Ramaswamy, 39, are being put in charge of a promised effort to slash rules, bureaucracy and spending throughout government. They will lead a yet to be established “department of government efficiency”.
Mike Waltz
National security adviser
Mike Waltz, 50, is a decorated military veteran, Nato critic and China sceptic. The Florida congressman and retired Army Special Forces officer has called China an “existential” threat. He served several tours in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa.
Kristi Noem
Homeland security secretary
Governor of South Dakota Kristi Noem, 52, has been nominated to lead the Department of Homeland Security with a mandate to stem immigration. Her autobiography, which recounted how she shot her puppy Cricket for misbehaviour, became a national talking point earlier this year.
Tom Homan
Border tsar
Tom Homan, 62, previously served as Trump’s immigration and customs enforcement director, backing the policy of separating parents from their children to discourage irregular migration. He has been asked to crack down on undocumented immigrants crossing the US-Mexico border and deport those already in the US.
Elise Stefanik
US ambassador to UN
Republican New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, 40, is a former White House aide to George W Bush who rose to prominence for questioning the presidents of Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania about antisemitism on their campuses, leading to their resignations.
Mike Huckabee
US ambassador to Israel
Mike Huckabee, 69, is the former governor of Arkansas and a prominent evangelical Christian. He is adored by the Israeli right for unflinching support of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, and his support for their desire to annex the occupied West Bank.
Stephen Miller
Deputy chief of staff for policy
Stephen Miller is among the most vocal and influential immigration hawks in Trump’s inner circle. The appointment of the 39-year-old will put the conservative firebrand and longtime adviser at the heart of the president-elect’s effort to reduce illegal immigration.
Tulsi Gabbard
Director of national intelligence
The former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii is known for her pro-Russian views, including blaming Nato and President Joe Biden’s administration for Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Tulsi Gabbard, 43, ran for president in 2020 from the far left of the Democratic party but has since embraced Trump and the Republicans.
Matt Gaetz
Attorney-general
The nomination of Republican congressman Matt Gaetz, 42, to run the Department of Justice has stunned Washington. Gaetz, a loyal Trump backer, was previously under investigation by the House of Representatives for alleged ethics breaches. Trump wants him to overhaul the department in retaliation for criminal investigations launched against the president-elect.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
Health secretary
Robert F Kennedy Jr, known as RFK, dropped his independent presidential campaign in August and backed Trump despite coming from the Democratic dynasty. Trump said he would allow 70-year-old Kennedy, a vocal vaccine sceptic and critic of the pharmaceutical industry, to “go wild” in reforming the US health and food system.
Reporting by Alex Rogers, Lauren Fedor, Oliver Barnes and Sophie Spiegelberger
