US President-elect Donald Trump has continued to fill key positions in his second administration, mostly choosing associates and allies who have most strongly supported him during the campaign for this year's presidential election.
On Tuesday, Trump said he would nominate Fox News anchor Pete Hegsett as defense secretary.
"Pete is strong, smart and truly believes in America first. With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - our military will be great again and America will never back down," Trump said in a statement.
Hegsett is a veteran of the National Guard and served, according to his website, in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Hegseth stated that he left the military in 2021 after being branded an extremist by the military who no longer wanted him.
"That opinion was mutual -- I didn't want that army anymore," Hegset wrote in his book, "The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free."
He also wrote that the future US president must radically "change the leaders of the Pentagon to prepare us to defend our nation and defeat our enemies."
"A lot of people need to be fired," Hegset wrote.
If confirmed in the Senate, he could fulfill Trump's promise to fire generals he accused of implementing progressive policies on minority and gender diversity, which have been condemned by conservatives, reports Reuters.
Musk and Ramaswamy in charge of government efficiency
Trump also said he had appointed billionaire Elon Musk and former rival in the Republican presidential race Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the "secretariat for government efficiency" or "DOGE".
That secretariat does not exist, but Musk and Ramaswamy will work outside the government and provide "advice and guidance," Trump said on his social network, reports AP. He announced that Musk and Ramaswamy would work with White House officials on "large-scale structural reforms."
"These two extraordinary Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, eliminate excessive regulations, cut unnecessary costs and restructure federal agencies," Trump said, adding that their work will be completed by July 4, 2026, and that less and more efficient government to be a "gift" to the country on the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Since it is not an actual government agency, it is not yet known how it will function.
With these appointments, Trump awarded two supporters from the private sector, reports Reuters. Musk is the owner of Tesla, Ex and Spacex, and Ramaswamy is the founder of a pharmaceutical company.
Musk also gave tens of millions of dollars to Trump's campaign and spoke at his rallies. The acronym for Secretariat - DOGE - matches the name of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency that Mask promotes.
Former chief of intelligence at the head of the CIA, congressman from Florida national security adviser
Trump previously nominated former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
Ratcliffe, a close Trump ally, was the director of intelligence at the end of the president-elect's first term.
He was confirmed to the position in May 2020, eight months before Trump left office. Not a single Democrat in the Senate supported it. Ratcliffe is a former congressman and secretary of justice of Texas, Reuters reports.
Democrats and former intelligence officials have accused him of declassifying intelligence so Trump and his Republican supporters could attack political opponents, including Joe Biden, Trump's 2020 opponent. Ratcliffe denied that.
The media, including Reuters, also reported remarks that Ratcliffe exaggerated his experience in the fight against terrorism when he was a federal prosecutor in Texas.
Trump also announced Tuesday that he has named Republican Congressman Mike Volz as his national security adviser.
Volz, who represents Florida in the House of Representatives, is a war veteran and a retired member of the National Guard. He is one of the leading critics of China.
In his new position, he will face a number of crises, from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and fears about increasing cooperation between Russia and North Korea to attacks by Iran's allies in the Middle East and efforts to establish a truce between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah.
"Mike has strongly promoted my America First foreign policy agenda and will be an outstanding promoter of our commitment to peace through strength," Trump said in a statement.
Volz served in Afghanistan several times, and also worked in the Pentagon, where he was an adviser when the secretaries of defense were Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.
He advocated for America to boycott the 2022 Olympics in China, due to covid-19 and the way Beijing treats Uyghurs.
The governor of South Carolina heads the secretariat in charge of immigration
Trump nominated South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to be Secretary of Homeland Security.
Trump said in a statement that Noem "was the first female governor to send National Guard troops to help Texas fight the Biden border crisis."
Noem is known in conservative circles. A former member of Congress, she used two terms as governor of a small state to gain a prominent position among Republicans.
If her candidacy is confirmed in the Senate, she will head the agency that will be at the center of implementing Trump's immigration plans and his promise to start mass deportations of illegal immigrants. There are an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the US.
The Secretariat for Internal Security has 260.000 employees, and was formed after the September 11 terrorist attacks and has a number of responsibilities.
Hakabi appointed ambassador to Israel
On Tuesday, Trump also announced that he will appoint former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as the US ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee, an evangelist, strongly supports Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which much of the international community considers illegal.
"He loves Israel and Israelis, and Israelis love him. Mike will work tirelessly for peace in the Middle East," Trump said in a statement.
Huckabee, 69, criticized current President Joe Biden for pressuring Israel to ease military actions in Gaza. He also accused Biden of making concessions to Hamas.
Huckabee was governor of Arkansas from 1996 to 2007. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination twice - in 2008 and 2016.
His daughter, Sarah Huckabee Sanders - currently the governor of Arkansas, was the spokeswoman of the White House during Trump's first term, from 2017 to 2019.
Trump has appointed real estate investor and campaign donor Steve Vitkoff as his special envoy for the Middle East.
Stefanik future ambassador to the UN
On Monday, Trump also appointed a new US ambassador to the UN - he chose a Republican member of the House of Representatives, Elise Stefanik, who was with Trump in his first term and now in the campaign.
"Ellis is an incredibly strong and smart fighter for America First," Trump said in a statement Monday.
Nikki Haley, who was Trump's opponent in the intra-party election for the presidential nomination, was at the UN in his previous term. It was previously announced that Haley will not be part of the new administration.
Forty-year-old Stefanik was born and raised in New York, which she also represented in the House of Representatives. She is one of Trump's loyal associates and was in the running for the vice presidential post. She graduated from Harvard and worked with George W. Bush in the White House on domestic policy issues.
When she was elected to the House of Representatives in 2014, she was the youngest woman in history to represent a district from New York, and she is also the youngest member of the Republican leadership in the House of Representatives.
At the beginning, Stefanik was moderately conservative, but then she connected with Trump and became his faithful collaborator in the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement.
Alice Stefanik supported Trump in the presidential race even before he announced his candidacy, and then actively participated in his campaign.
She defended him during two impeachment processes in Congress, and publicly opposed the court processes that were conducted against him. She also filed an ethics complaint against the judge in New York who presided over one of the civil cases against Trump.
Who will be in charge of border politics?
Tom Homan, the former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during the last Trump term, will be in charge of the border situation in the new administration.
"I am pleased to announce that former ICE Director Tom Homan will be part of the new Trump administration and will be dealing with state borders," Trump wrote on his Truth Social network.
It is expected that Homan will get a position related to the border and that one of his tasks will be the largest deportation in history - which Trump announced.
As it was said, Homan will be in charge of "deporting all illegal immigrants to their countries". Trump says he expects Homan to do a "fantastic, long-awaited job."
He told Fox News on Sunday that "the military will not surround and arrest immigrants, but ICE will implement Trump's plans in a humane way."
"It will be well-planned, targeted operations carried out by ICE, whose agents do this every day and are good at it. When we go out on the ground, we know who we're looking for, we know where they are, and it will all be done in a humane way," he said. is Homan.
Who is the new deputy chief of staff for policy in the new Trump administration?
Donald Trump has named longtime adviser Stephen Mueller, who is considered a hardliner on immigration, as deputy chief of staff for policy in the new administration.
Vice President-elect JD Vance sent a congratulatory message to Mueller on social media on Monday, saying, "This is another fantastic choice of president." The announcement was first reported by CNN.
Mueller was a senior adviser in Trump's first term and a central figure in many of his policy decisions, most notably the move to separate thousands of immigrant families as part of the 2018 migrant deterrence program.
Mueller helped craft many of Trump's speeches and plans on immigration. Since Trump left office, Mueller has served as president of America First Legal, an organization of former Trump advisers that was founded as a conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union, which has targeted the Biden administration, the media, universities and others over issues such as which are freedom of speech and religion and national security.
Pressure on Republicans in the Senate
Homan's appointment to the position does not require Senate approval, but many other appointments in the Trump administration do. The AP reports that Trump is pressuring Republicans in the Senate, who have now won the majority, to change the rules so that the new president can nominate people even when the Senate is not in session - that is, without the confirmation of senators.
Republicans need to choose a new leader soon, since the current leader, Mitch McConnell, is stepping down from that position after almost two decades. In the game are Senators John Thune of South Dakota, John Cornyn of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida. All three supported Trump in the campaign.
For now, Trump has not said who is his favorite, but on Sunday he announced on the networks that he expects the new leader to change the rules in the Senate if necessary, in order to enable him to assemble his cabinet as soon as possible.
In 2014, the Supreme Court made a decision that limits the ability of the president to appoint personnel without Senate confirmation when he is not in session.
All three candidates for the new Republican leadership say they are willing to consider changing that rule.
Scott wrote on Ex: "I agree 100 percent. I will do whatever it takes to get your nominations confirmed as soon as possible." Tun said that it is necessary to work "quickly and decisively" in order to appoint staff as soon as possible. Corning points out that "it is unacceptable to block the appointments of members of Trump's cabinet in the Senate."
Republicans have won control of the Senate, and are on their way to winning the majority in the House of Representatives. If that happens, one party will control both the legislature and the executive.
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