Get to know Donald Trump’s incredibly frightening new Cabinet and everyone else advising him in a second term

On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump will become president of the United States for a second time despite, among other things, encouraging Americans to take bleach in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and sparking a violent attack on the Capitol that left several people dead. When Trump first took office, his Cabinet included relatively established Republicans – including the Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Minister of Transport Elaine Chao. Many of the people he placed in top advisory positions – retired Marine Corps generals, for example John Kelly as White House Chief of Staff and former President and CEO of Goldman Sachs Gary Cohn as Director of the National Economic Council – also had relevant experience. But this time Trump is expected to hire almost exclusively right-wing people whose main qualification is absolute loyalty to him.

Speaking to Fox News shortly after the election: Donald Trump Jr, He is “heavily involved in the transition” and stated that he has “focused on putting people in place who won’t speak up when they disagree with his father better than the duly elected President of the United States.”

The most influential and sought-after positions are obviously cabinet positions, which technically require Senate approval. However, many worked as “actors” during Trump’s time in office, which allowed them to get around this requirement. In addition, Trump has demanded that Senate Republicans allow him to bypass the confirmation process entirely by agreeing to “appointment pauses.” This is very scary to at least one staunch conservative, but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen!

Previous nominees for Trump’s Cabinet include:

Matt Gaetz, Attorney General

Is Donald Trump trying to troll? An attempt to make millions of people shout “What the fuck?!” at the same time? A clever lowering of the bar so that when he nominates, say, a serial killer as Surgeon General, people say, “That’s not so crazy”? It may be all of the above. In addition to having less legal experience than most law firm employees, Gaetz is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for alleged sexual misconduct, which he denies.

Fun fact: In his memoirs ArsonistGaetz wrote of Trump: “The President called me while I was sitting in my car, sleeping on my cot in the Longworth office in the middle of the night, on the throne, on planes, in nightclubs, and even in the middle of passion.” ( Yes, I answered.”

Kristi Noem, Minister of Internal Security

Trump picked South Dakota’s governor for one of the most important posts of his administration as he promised to “implement the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” Although Noem does not govern a border state, she has made her tough stance on immigration clear. She has previously called for punishment of “sanctuary cities” that protect undocumented immigrants. And in April last year, Noem was banned from visiting three separate reservations that make up about 10% of South Dakota’s 75,789.6 square miles of land area after she alleged that Mexican drug cartels had “successfully managed to target tribal members for their criminal activities.” recruit” and that “some tribal leaders…benefit personally from the presence of the cartels.”

Interesting fact: If confirmed, Noem would be the first homeland secretary in history to write about how she took her family dog ​​to a gravel pit and shot it at point-blank range.

Marco Rubio, Foreign Minister

The Republican senator, who mocked Trump’s tan and hand size during his 2016 presidential bid, has since become a staunch ally; At one point he was said to have been on Trump’s shortlist for vice president in 2024.

On Capitol Hill, the Florida congressman has a reputation as a foreign policy hawk. In April, he voted against a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine and, in equally worrying news for the war-torn country, said the war started by Russia was likely to result in a “negotiated settlement” rather than a victory for the country will end Vladimir Putin penetrated.

Interesting fact: If things go south between Trump and Rubio — as they did with Trump’s first secretary of state, whom he would later describe as “stupid as a rock” and “lazy as hell” — the new president already has a derogatory nickname for him Guy: “Little Marco.”

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator

At a time when scientists say climate change has reached the point of no return, Zeldin’s election is not a good sign for the planet, if not a completely expected one. In 2020, the former New York congressman received the lowest score of the entire New York delegation on the League of Conservation Voters’ 2020 National Environmental Scorecard; It has a lifetime rating of 14% from the environmental organization. In an interview, he said his priorities on “day one and first 100 days” were “rolling back the regulations.”

Interesting fact: Zeldin voted to overturn the 2020 election results after a mob attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Pete Hegseth, Minister of Defense

If the name Pete Hegseth is familiar to you, it’s probably because the guy is a Fox News anchor and, if confirmed, would be the first Fox and friends Co-host in US history who became Cabinet Secretary. Hegseth joined the Minnesota National Guard and later the Army National Guard, serving in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Iraq and Afghanistan, reaching the rank of major. He ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2012 and joined Fox News as a contributor two years later. In 2019, Hegseth reportedly urged Trump to pardon a number of military personnel accused of war crimes, including the shooting of civilians; Trump ultimately pardoned three people. Accordingly The New York Times“A former Pentagon official from Mr. Trump’s first term questioned Mr. Hegseth’s lack of experience — aside from military service — and raised concerns about his ability to win Senate confirmation, even with a Republican majority in the House,” days before When Trump nominated him, Hegseth said in an interview: “I say frankly, we should not have women in combat roles.”