Donald Trump is jubilant, because he has his revenge. During a gala speech in his stronghold of Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, opened by Argentine President Javier Milei and actor Sylvester Stallone, the president-elect welcomed, Thursday, November 14, his sensational appointments to Health, Justice, Defense and the head of a commission for Government Effectiveness, entrusted to Elon Musk. There is no question for Donald Trump of repeating what he described as the “biggest mistake” of his first mandate: choose “people who were not loyal”.
This time, the one who will settle in the White House in January 2025 as 47e President of the United States favors personalities who sometimes have no experience of the state apparatus, but who support it without reservation. As evidenced by his intention to placing three of his personal lawyers in key positions of deputy ministers and ministry representative at the Supreme Court. Several other appointments have drawn strong criticism from the Democratic opposition and sometimes awkward silence from within its own ranks. They will still have to be confirmed by the Senate, a test of the loyalty of Republican elected officials towards the populist billionaire.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaxxer at Health
Robert F. Kennedy Junior was chosen to take the reins of Health. Under the leadership of “RFK Jr.”, promised Donald Trump, this ministry “will play a big role in ensuring that everyone is protected from dangerous chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives”. This former environmental law lawyer, without scientific training, forged an unlikely alliance with the Republican candidate, after giving up being an independent presidential candidate. His skills remain to be proven. “There are committees that will conduct hearings, and the files of these candidates will be examined closely when the time comes”politely evaded John Thune, future leader of the Republicans in the Senate, according to comments reported by NBC News.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. founded Children's Health Defense, an association that promotes vaccine skepticism. During the Covid-19 crisis, he propagated conspiracy theories, notably on alleged links between vaccination and autism – an idea long abandoned, after much scientific work. He also declared, among other things, that Covid-19 targeted certain ethnic groups more, that mass killings were linked to prescription drugs and that the 2004 presidential election had been stolen. “RFK Jr.” calls for an end to the addition of fluoride to running water, although it is considered a great health success in the fight against dental caries.
This elusive personality described leaving the corpse of a bear cub in Central Park in New York and one day having to have a worm removed from his brain. “The extravagant opinions of Mr. [Robert F.] Kennedy's statements on basic scientific facts are disturbing and should concern all parents who expect schools and other public spaces to be safe for their children.”wrote Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, in a press release. He “represents a clear and real danger to the health of the nation”added Public Citizen, an association dedicated to consumer defense, which considers that it “should not be allowed into the Department of Health and Human Services building, much less be appointed to head the nation's public health agency.”
Matt Gaetz, a radical Trumpist at Justice
Matt Gaetz, 42, has been chosen to take the reins of the Justice Department. This foal of Donald Trump, who considers him a “tenacious and extremely gifted lawyer”has only briefly worked in a law firm and has no experience as a prosecutor. He was also implicated in several cases. He is accused of having had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, an allegation he has denied, saying he is a victim of the establishment. These alleged facts triggered an investigation into sexual exploitation of a minor, carried out by prosecutors reporting to the Ministry of Justice that he could just lead. This investigation resulted in a dismissal of the case, assured the elected official in 2023.
But Matt Gaetz is the target of other investigations, this time carried out by the ethics committee of the House of Representatives, for alleged sexual offenses, illegal consumption of narcotics, embezzlement of campaign funds and various professional misconduct. According to ABC News, the young girl testified before this commission that Matt Gaetz had had sexual intercourse with her when she was 17 years old. The elected official from Florida resigned from the House on Wednesday, thus putting an end to this investigation.
In October 2023, Matt Gaetz led the charge of the radical Trumpist fringe against the then Republican Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, resulting in his ouster. Which left some traces within the party. “When I was younger, I was told that if I didn’t have anything good to say, I shouldn’t say anything at all.”commented Don Bacon, elected Republican to the House of Representatives. “It's the biggest surprise I've had in a long time. I really can't believe he'll make it through the Senate confirmation process. You never know.”agrees Mike Simpson, another elected official cited by the ABC channel.
All of this also bodes well for a likely heated confirmation process in the Senate. Susan Collins, a Republican senator from Maine, said “shocked” by this appointment. Another Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski – very critical of Donald Trump for many years – also expressed her doubts. “I don't think this is a serious nomination for [le poste de] Minister of Justice”she told reporters.
A direct reference to the role of assumed troublemaker of Matt Gaetz, since he has disrupted parliamentary work on numerous occasions. In 2018, he invited a Holocaust denier to the Capitol to hear Donald Trump's State of the Union address. In March 2020, he appeared in the chamber with his face covered by a gas mask to protest against the anti-Covid measures being debated in the House. In 2021, he was suspended by the Florida Bar for back dues, then reinstated. If his appointment to the Department of Justice is confirmed, he will have to manage a sprawling federal body, with more than 115,000 employees and around forty organizations, including a powerful prosecutor's office and the FBI.
Pete Hegseth, a novice at Defense
Pete Hegseth, 44, served in Iraq and Afghanistan. But this veteran has no experience of high-level command. The appointment of this soldier turned host of the Fox News channel to head the Pentagon therefore had the effect of a bomb. “Who ?”reacted Republican Senator Bill Cassidy on NBC News, when asked for his opinion on this choice. “I don't know Pete. I just don't know anything about him.” The person himself says he was fired from a National Guard regiment responsible for protecting Joe Biden's inauguration, because of his suspicious tattoos.
More recently, Pete Hegseth wrote a book to denounce “woke culture” in the military, entitled The War Against Warriors: The Secrets of a Betrayal of the Men Who Fight for Our Freedom.
During his first term, Donald Trump had already considered appointing Pete Hegseth to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, but he faced opposition from major veterans groups. The television host, however, has long served as an informal advisor to the billionaire. “He has no experience in a bureaucracy or in the Ministry of Defense, where he will have to supervise the most powerful and largest army in the world”underlines the investigative journalist of Washington Post Jacqueline Alemany, Congress specialist. I think this will be the first test of who will ultimately stand up to Trump.”she declared in the “Morning Joe”on MSNBC.
This appointment “makes no sense”a Republican senator told the magazine Rolling Stoneseven if few elected officials from the party openly speak out to criticize this decision by the president-elect. If his nomination is validated in the Senate, Pete Hegseth will be required to make important decisions for national security, at the head of an agency which supervises 2.9 million civilians and military personnel around the world, with a budget of 900 billion dollars. The position of Secretary of Defense “should never be a loyalty appointment”commented to the BBC John Bolton, who served as national security adviser to Donald Trump. And John Bolton delivers this analysis: “The question is: Will he be a 'yes man' for Donald Trump or will he behave professionally and courageously, as he did when he was in uniform?”
