Trump is creating team of loyalists after conflicts with Cabinet members in 1st term
President-elect Donald Trump has been naming his cabinet nominees at a breakneck pace. The types of people that he’s selecting are reflective of just how much he has remade the Republican Party in his own image.
Instead of Lincoln’s Team of Rivals, the title of Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book about the presidential Cabinet put together by the 16th president, Trump’s Cabinet is shaping up to be a “Team of Loyalists.” It’s in many ways a very different type of group than what he put together in 2016. Back then, Trump was a political newbie. He did not know the ways of Washington — or have many friends in it.
So, many of his picks came from more traditional GOP circles. There was a lot of “getting to know you” that went on — and a lot of ruffled feathers and conflicts when some stood in his way. That’s changed this time around as his strength with the party’s base has ballooned.
Trump is surrounding himself with are people who can amplify his message and are simpatico with how he wants to remake the executive branch. Here are a few of the picks as examples so far — and the differences with 2016:
Health and Human Services:
- 2024: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., son of Robert F. Kennedy and former Democrat, a noted anti-vaccine activist who has railed against big pharma and the food industry
- 2016: Former Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., a doctor (and later Alex Azar, a pharmaceutical executive)
Defense:
- 2024: Pete Hegseth, a Fox News personality and former national guardsman
- 2016: Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, who fell out with Trump and called him a threat to the Constitution
Homeland Security:
- 2024: Gov. Kristi Noem, R-S.D., a Trump loyalist, who campaigned with Trump, will be crucial in Trump’s efforts to crack down on illegal immigration and deport millions. She has called what’s happening at the border “an invasion,” and Trump lauded that during her time as governor, she sent national guard troops to the border with Mexico.
- 2016: Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, who later became Trump’s chief of staff but has denounced him as meeting the definition of a “fascist”
Director of National Intelligence:
- 2024: Former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democrat who has cast doubt on U.S. intelligence, has parroted Russian lines like blaming NATO for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and spoke positively of Syria’s al-Assad even after the U.S. accused him of using chemical weapons against his own people
- 2016: Former Indiana Sen. Dan Coats, who was mild-mannered and also had a falling out with Trump. They clashed over North Korea and Russia and he left shortly before a whistleblower complaint about Trump’s conduct on a call with Ukraine’s president that led to one of Trump’s impeachments.
Secretary of State:
- 2024: Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., once a Trump critic, the China hawk has become a staunch Trump ally
- 2016: Rex Tillerson, a former Exxon-Mobil CEO, who fell out with Trump and later proclaimed Trump a “moron”
United Nations ambassador:
- 2024: Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., who started as a moderate member from upstate New York, has become one of the most pro-Trump loyalists in Congress
- 2016: Former Gov. Nikki Haley, R-S.C., came from the more traditionalist wing of the GOP and later ran against Trump, calling him as “unhinged” before losing, endorsing him and finding herself outside the new Trump administration
CIA:
- 2024: Former Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas, who served as Trump’s DNI from 2020 to 2021
- 2016: Former Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., who was once a strong Trump defender, then flirted with running against him, telling conservatives to turn away from “celebrity leaders” with “fragile egos.” He’s now on the outside looking in.
Attorney General:
- 2024: Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., among the strongest of Trump loyalists in Congress but with no experience as a prosecutor and who was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for sexual misconduct and illicit drug use
- 2016: Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a very conservative senator, who was the first in the chamber to endorse Trump but also later had a falling out with him because of his insistence on the independence of the DOJ
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