Who are Donald Trump’s key cabinet picks?
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From Trump’s new border czar to Elon Musk heading up a brand new department, the president-elect’s government is already taking shape.
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In brief…
- From Elon Musk to Susie Wiles, Donald Trump has confirmed a handful of appointees for his cabinet.
- Many appear to hold hardline stances on immigration, and have hawkish attitudes towards foreign policy that largely align with Trump’s.
- The News Agents say that while appointees need the Senate's approval, Trump is essentially saying if he wants to appoint someone he will just do it, sweeping away the constitution.
Susie Wiles - Chief of Staff
Wiles is said to be the mastermind behind Donald Trump’s successful presidential campaign.
She has a reputation for being one of America's most effective political strategists, operating, in Trump’s words, “in the back”.
Wiles previously worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign, as well as Ronald Reagan’s in 1980.
The 67-year-old grandmother lives in Florida and is credited with transforming the politics of the Sunshine state, helping Rick Scott and later Ron DeSantis become governors.
"It is a well deserved honour to have Susie as the first-ever female chief of staff in United States history," Trump said in a statement.
Matt Gaetz - Attorney General
Florida representative Matt Gaetz has been named as Donald Trump’s nomination as attorney general, the highest legal position in the US.
The far-right 42-year-old, who has legal qualifications and briefly practised law before moving into politics, is a long-time Trump backer.
Gaetz has faced allegations of child sex trafficking, among other investigations for other sexual misconduct and drug use – but has never been convicted of any of these crimes, and has strongly denied all claims against him.
Trump will, like all his cabinet picks, need his nominations approved by the Senate.
Emily says: "There will be question marks hanging over how his colleagues, how senators and those who want to please Donald Trump now act.
"Will they decide that he is a step too far? Will they decide that if Donald Trump wants it. Donald Trump shall have it?"
Jon says that there is a debate currently being had about which one of Trump's cabinet picks is the "whackiest".
"Gaetz seems to me to be the one. Is Donald Trump prepared to die in the last ditch to get him over the line?"
Marco Rubio - Secretary of State
Rubio is tipped to become the first Latino American to serve as the country’s top diplomat.
This is despite previously clashing with Trump, with the president-elect once dubbing him “little Marco” and “lightweight Rubio”.
Rubio ran in the Republican 2016 primaries against Trump, but has since supported him.
“He said Trump wasn’t fit to be president. He’s now been on a bit of a journey and is on side” Jon Sopel points out.
"We all thought that he was being led up the garden path, that there would be no job for him at the end of this, that Trump just wanted to humiliate him publicly and remind everyone that he'd come round, because we know that the thing Trump most adores is loyalty," Emily Maitlis says.
She adds: "but he's now in this job, which is arguably the most, powerful one after Trump's."
He is known for having a somewhat hawkish take on international relations, calling for aggressive foreign policy against US’ adversaries like China and Iran while sitting on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Committee on Foreign Relations.
The Florida senator has said he is against a ceasefire in Gaza, a clear departure from the Biden administration.
Jon says: “He's going to be tough on Cuba. He's going to be tough on Venezuela. He’s going be tough on Iran, Ukraine, he's very pro-Israel…."
Although he adds that Rubio is "not a Russian sympathiser in the way that there are some on the Maga right."
"In some ways, he's the nearest person that's been appointed so far that you would say is a conventional Republican."
Robert F Kennedy Jr - Health Secretary
Robert Francis Kennedy Jr, known as RFK, is the controversial nephew of John F Kennedy - the 35th US president.
RFK ran his own 2024 presidential campaign as an independent, initially going up against Trump and Kamala Harris. But during the campaign, RFK dropped out of the race and went on to endorse the Republican nominee.
Trump later promised that RFK would play a “big role” in informing health policy, allowing him to “go wild” on health, food and medicines. Now, he looks set for the highest health position in the US government.
That is despite his role as one of the loudest voices in the anti-vaccination (anti-vax) movement. He has been accused of spreading vaccine disinformation and made a host of other false claims including that Covid-19 was genetically engineered, that the disease targets specific races, and that vaccines can cause autism. And these are just a few of the wild theories he has floated.
Bizarrely, Jon points out, some Democrats are "talking up" the idea of RFK being health secretary.
He says: "I've heard people say to me in Washington,' watch this guy, He could be a future presidential candidate."
Some Democrats, he says, are particularly keen in RFK's apparent plans to break up big pharma.
Emily points out: "Stand back for a moment... Breaking up big pharma and being anti-vax just sounds like a recipe for a measles outbreak, quite frankly."
Dr Mehmet Oz - Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
Dr Oz is a television personality and surgeon who previously ran for the Senate in Pennsylvania in 2022, receiving an endorsement from Trump.
He was a regular Fox News commentator during the Covid-19 pandemic and an advocated for unproven treatments for the disease such as hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug. Dr Oz was a frequent critic of the Biden administration's response too, arguing masks ignored the science and did not offer protection.
On his own program, The Dr Oz Show, has pumped out a host of misleading health advice, from claiming “magic” coffee beans can spur weight loss to alleging that selenium supplements can prevent cancer.
Now, he could head up a health agency that overseas a wide-rang of programmes, from federal health insurance to medical aid rollout. It has an overall annual spend of $2.6 trillion.
"You might remember him from his TV appearances at Oprah, where he was basically peddling quackery - slimming pills - and he's now wanted in the Department of Health.
"I slightly resent having to get up to date on other people's conspiracy theories just to feel part of the conversation of the incoming administration," Emily says.
Tom Homan - ‘Border Csar’
Homan served as former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Trump's first term in government.
He takes a tough stance on immigration, saying earlier this year he would "run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen".
Homan has also vowed to override states planning to block mass deportation plans, telling Democrat governors to “get the hell out the way” if they “make it hard for us”.
Elise Stefanik - US ambassador to the UN
New York Republican Elise Stefanik is a long-time ally of Trump and was a vocal supporter throughout the campaign, even speaking at his controversial Madison Square Garden rally.
She was a House Republican conference chair and had a leading role in the House of Representatives in 2021, replacing then-Representative Liz Cheney, who was sacked for calling out Trump's election fraud claims.
Trump said in a statement: "Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter."
Kristi Noem - Secretary of Homeland Security
South Dakota governor Kristi Neom will run the homeland security department.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has a broad range of responsibilities, including border protection and immigration as well as disaster response and the US Secret Service.
But like border czar Homan, Noem also has a hardline stance on immigration. That’s why, Emily says, her appointment is all about tackling illegal immigration.
She sparked controversy when she wrote about how she shot her own dog.
Emily says: “Part of me thinks that Trump's just looking at her and saying, ‘I like a woman that can shoot her own dog’, just imagine what she's going to do to all those illegals, right?”
During Trump’s campaign, she was often one of the most vocal proponents of his immigration policy, saying that there is an “invasion” at the US’ southern border.
She said in a speech: “The 50 states have a common enemy, and that enemy is the Mexican drug cartels. They are waging war against our nation, and these cartels are perpetuating violence in each of our states, even right here in South Dakota.”
Elon Musk - Head of new efficiency department
The X CEO was front and centre at numerous rallies along the campaign trail, and now he will play a key role in the Republican’s government.
Trump reportedly promised the tech billionaire a role after Musk’s endorsement and his $200 million in funding for Trump’s campaign across the swing states.
Jon says: "He’s the second most powerful man in America. He seems to be pulling the strings on everything."
Musk will head up the new department, known as DOGE (department of government efficiency), alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
Trump said in a statement the pair "will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies".
But Emily and Jon don't see this ending well.
"I think this has catastrophe written all over it and there will be a falling out," Jon predicts.
Emily agrees: "I'm pretty sure it’s something that combusts. Who is more powerful? Is it the richest man in the world or the president? The man who controls the medium or the man who puts out the message?"
And given Musk will be the one who "isn't constrained by office", Emily asks whether it gives Musk more leeway to "do stuff off the charts."
Pete Hegseth - Defence secretary
The Fox News presenter has been a contributor to the network since 2014.
While he is an army veteran, Hegseth lacks experience in national security. That’s why, Jon explains, people are “raising an eyebrow at his appointment”.
“What has he got that commends him to Donald Trump? He's loyal, he's on TV. He's good looking, he's tall, he's chisel- jawed, and he is a vet.
“He may know how to strip down an m4 carbine rifle…but The Pentagon has a budget for $841.4 billion, what does he know about managing this gigantic sprawling defence organisation,” he says.
Meanwhile, he has said that any admiral or general who has been “been involved in Diversity Equity and Inclusion programs or ‘woke shit’ has got to go”, Emily points out.
This, she says, “takes you to the heart of the new look defense, the new look army, which is that Donald Trump has vowed to fire woke generals.”
Hegseth has a hawkish view on foreign policy, in 2022 criticising the Biden administration for not arming Kyiv fast enough. Meanwhile, Trump has said he would stop providing military aid to Ukraine.
He reportedly became friends with Trump after the president-elect’s various appearances on his show Fox and Friends.
Linda McMahon - Education Secretary
Trump has announced that he intends for the billionaire co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to become the next Education Secretary.
She served in Trump's previous government as the head of the Small Business Administration between 2017 to 2019 and is already a part of his transition team.
McMahon was also a major donor to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, providing more than $800 million.
Trump said in a statement McMahon "will fight tirelessly to expand 'Choice' to every State in America, and empower parents to make the best Education decisions for their families."
Emily says this "gives you a very piecemeal sense of what education could mean in any of the 50 states of the US, including which books are allowed, which literatures are out there and what what kids are allowed to learn."
Jon says: "Donald Trump has made clear that what he wants to see is the dismantling of the Education Department. I mean, she's essentially going in there with a mandate to blow the place up."
Mike Huckabee - Ambassador to Israel
Mike Huckabee is a former governor of Arkansas and New York City-based real estate mogul.
He has a hardline pro-Israeli stance, previously saying Israel has a rightful claim to the West Bank. Trump’s last government also had a pro-Israel position, moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in a move blasted by Palestinians as harming peace prospects.
Trump said in a statement: “He [Huckabee] loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him.”
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