Ever since his sweeping win in last week’s presidential election, President-elect Donald Trump has been rolling out his Cabinet and administration appointments in rapid succession. As The Washington Stand reported on Tuesday, Trump named campaign co-chair Susie Wiles as his Chief of Staff, former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Tom Homan as his “border czar,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as his ambassador to the United Nations, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee as his ambassador to Israel, former Rep. Lee Zeldin as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) as his National Security Advisor.
But the Trump train hasn’t stopped. The president-elect announced a whole new spate of administration and Cabinet positions Tuesday night.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem (R)
It was previously rumored that Trump would ask South Dakota’s Republican Governor Kristi Noem to serve as Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but he confirmed the appointment over social media Tuesday night. “Kristi has been very strong on Border Security. She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times,” Trump stated. He continued, “She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries.”
Noem accepted the president-elect’s nomination, responding, “I am honored and humbled that President Donald J. Trump has selected me to be the Secretary of Homeland Security. I look forward to working with Border Czar Tom Homan to make America SAFE again.” She added, “With Donald Trump, we will secure the border and restore safety to American communities so families will again have the opportunity to pursue the American Dream.”
Despite what have been touted as her strong credentials on border control, Noem has disappointed conservatives more than once by both adopting Trump’s “leave it to the states” stance on abortion and vetoing state legislation that would have protected girls’ sports from biological boys identifying as transgender.
John Ratcliffe
Trump also appointed his former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) John Ratcliffe to serve as the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). “From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBI’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” Trump wrote, in announcing Ratcliffe’s appointment. He continued, “When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People.”
Prior to being made DNI in 2020, Ratcliffe served in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Texas. During his time in the House, Ratcliffe garnered a reputation as one of the most conservative legislators, earning a lifetime scorecard rating of 100% from FRC Action. He also served on the House Intelligence, Judiciary, and Homeland Security Committees, including the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies and the Intelligence Committee’s Technologies and Advanced Research Subcommittee and Intelligence and Modernization Readiness Subcommittee.
Over the course of his career, Ratcliffe has been a strident critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and has called for China to be penalized for the extermination of Uyghur Muslims and investigated for covering up the origins and outbreak of COVID-19. He has also been one of the chief voices combatting the Russian collusion hoax that plagued the beginning of Trump’s presidency, even insisting that “there were crimes committed during the Obama administration” related to illegally targeting Trump’s 2016 campaign and transition team.
Pete Hegseth
One Trump appointment that has already sparked backlash from left-wing media outlets is Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary. “Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is smart, tough, and a true believer 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 announced. He added, “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”
Although best recognized as a commentator and contributor on Fox News, Hegseth is also an Ivy League graduate and a longtime military veteran. He has served with the U.S. Army since 2003, having served at Guantanamo Bay and in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. For his service, Hegseth has been awarded the Bronze Star twice, the Army Commendation Medal twice, the National Defense Service Medal, and numerous other medals, badges, and accolades. Starting in 2007, Hegseth served as the executive director of Vets for Freedom and later moved on to serve as the executive director of Concerned Veterans for America.
According to an unnamed official quoted by CNN, staffers in the Department of Defense (DOD) are “simply shocked” over Trump’s pick of Hegseth. Another unnamed source, identified only as a former Trump official, told the outlet that he expects efforts will emerge to “take him down.” Politico published a piece asking “Who the f--k is this guy?” and citing DOD sources who claim that the 20-plus-year military servicemember and veterans’ advocate is “undoubtedly the least qualified nominee for SecDef in American history.” The outlet predicted that Hegseth will help Trump with “reinstating a ban on transgender troops, ending abortion travel policies, reigniting battles over bases named for Confederate figures, [and] slashing diversity programs…”
However, some conservatives are excited about Hegseth’s appointment. “President Trump has made an outstanding pick for Secretary of Defense,” said Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.). “If downtown DC is upset, you’re doing the right thing. I look forward to helping him turn our military into the most lethal and efficient in the world,” he added. “Pete Hegseth’s position is shaking up the regime the most. Expect an onslaught of hoaxes against him,” commentator and investigative reporter Mike Cernovich anticipated. He also warned that retired U.S. Army General Mark Milley, who has been an outspoken opponent of Trump and a stalwart proponent of “woke” ideology in the military, “knows that a real investigation and court martial is on the table now.”
Federalist CEO Sean Davis commented, “The worst people on earth are mad, which means this is the best possible pick for America.” Michael Cassidy, a U.S. military veteran who made headlines last year for destroying a statue of Baphomet erected in the Iowa state capital building, noted that both he and Hegseth have been classified as “domestic extremists” by different branches of the military due to their Christian beliefs: “Him for having a Jerusalem cross tattoo, me for tearing down a statue of the devil. He gets it.”
National Review’s John Noonan also praised Hegseth’s selection. “There is a rot in the Pentagon that is deeply entrenched,” he observed. “It requires an unconventional pick, youthful energy, and a keen understanding of Congress and Washington to refocus itself back to the national defense of the United States. The times are perilous, and our national-security establishment needs a jolt to its system. I think Pete can be that jolt.”
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Trump has also announced that tech billionaire Elon Musk and former Republican presidential primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, an Ohio businessman, will be running the new Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE). “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies — Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement,” Trump stated. He added that DOGE “will become, potentially, ‘The Manhattan Project’ of our time.”
Trump continued, “I look forward to Elon and Vivek making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency and, at the same time, making life better for all Americans. Importantly, we will drive out the massive waste and fraud which exists throughout our annual $6.5 Trillion Dollars of Government Spending.”
The work done by DOGE will conclude, Trump said, by July 4, 2026. He added, “A smaller Government, with more efficiency and less bureaucracy, will be the perfect gift to America on the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. I am confident they will succeed!”
For his part, Musk promised, “All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency. Anytime the public thinks we are cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, just let us know!” He added, “We will also have a leaderboard for most insanely dumb spending of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”
The White House
Many White House senior staff positions will also go to longtime Trump allies and advisors. The president-elect announced Wednesday morning that advisor and social media and communications expert Dan Scavino, Jr. will be serving as Deputy Chief of Staff; speechwriter and policy advisor Stephen Miller will be serving as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and National Security Advisor; political director James Blair will be serving as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Legislative, Political, and Public Affairs; and Trump’s political action committee (PAC) manager Taylor Budowich will be made Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications and Personnel. All four men will also be elevated to Assistants to the President.
Scavino has been one of Trump’s closest and longest-serving aides, beginning his career with the 45th and 47th President as a caddie at one of Trump’s golf clubs. He aided Trump’s first successful presidential campaign in 2015 and 2016 and was later made White House Director of Social Media. Unlike most staffers in Trump’s administration, Scavino served for the entirety of the president’s term. He and several Trump aides were held in contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to comply with subpoenas related to the events of January 6, 2021.
Miller has largely been credited over the years with helping shape Trump’s immigration, including building a wall across the southern border, hiring more Border Patrol agents, initiating mass deportations, and using Title 42 of the U.S. Code, which deals with communicable diseases, to carry out deportations in the early stages of Trump’s first term. He is expected to work closely with Noem and Homan on shaping and enforcing Trump’s immigration policy.
Blair previously served as the political director for both the Trump campaign and the RNC, dealing with hundreds of employees across both organizations and, ultimately, playing a key role in a successful presidential campaign. He is a former Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign, as well as on numerous Republican campaigns in the 2022 midterm elections. Budowich served as a spokesman for Trump’s 2020 campaign and has also been helping manage the pro-Trump Save America Super PAC and the MAGA, Inc. PAC, of which he was CEO.
“Dan, Stephen, James, and Taylor were ‘best in class’ advisors on my winning campaign, and I know they will honorably serve the American people in the White House,” Trump stated. “They will continue to work hard to Make America Great Again in their respective new roles.”
Longtime Republican lawyer William McGinley has also been named as Trump’s White House General Counsel. “Bill is a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement,” the president-elect announced.
Trump ally and Article III Project founder Mike Davis hailed the decision as “an excellent choice to serve as President Trump’s White House Counsel.” Davis added, “Bill is tough, smart, and fair. And he already knows his way around the White House and the Executive Branch. He’s ready on Day 1.”
McGinley served as a campaign advisor to Trump in 2016 and worked in his first administration as the head of the Office of Cabinet Affairs. He had previously served as Deputy General Counsel to the Republican National Committee and later worked as outside counsel with the Article III Project and election integrity organizations.
Others
As TWS reported previously, Donald Trump, Jr. has insisted that health expert Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will be given a role in the administration, as promised. Kennedy has been lobbying for an opportunity to remove “corrupt” bureaucrats from health-related agencies like the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in order to fix what he calls America’s chronic disease problem.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has been discussed as a likely nominee for Secretary of State, but Trump has yet to make a formal announcement for the position. According to The Wall Street Journal, Trump is keeping the position open because he enjoys watching others lobby for the role, but political commentators, like lawyer Rogan O’Handley, have suggested that Rubio’s name may have been leaked to the press in order to influence Trump’s decision, noting that Rubio’s name was reported by The New York Times several days ago and there has not yet been any appointment announced.
Cernovich made a similar observation, posting, “Pete Hegseth’s name didn’t leak to the media in advance of the announcement. Kristi Noem’s position was first reported by CNN several hours ago. You want to find [the operational security] weak link, start there.”
Trump has yet to announce Secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services (HHS), Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Labor, Transportation, Treasury, or Veterans Affairs (V.A.). He has also yet to name an Attorney General, Surgeon General, or DNI, as well as a series of other administrative roles.
S.A. McCarthy serves as a news writer at The Washington Stand.