Nascent right-wing venture capitalist Donald Trump Jr. has become the leading Trump family member in his father’s inner circle during the presidential transition period.
A half dozen sources told Reuters that President-elect Donald Trump’s eldest child has been a key advisory figure as his dad has put forward a string of controversial cabinet nominees, marshalling some of the wildest picks himself.
Trump, who steadfastly advocated for his good pal and Ohio Senator JD Vance as Trump’s running mate, blocked former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from returning to Trump’s cabinet, the news agency reported.
He is also, apparently, a driving force behind two the planned nominations of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services Secretary and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence.
Kennedy is the anti-vaxxer conspiracist black sheep of the famous Massachusetts clan that has produced three generations of Democratic politicians. Gabbard is a former Democratic politician turned MAGA diehard who surprised Don Jr.‘s dad with the news that she’d joined the GOP at a rally in North Carolina last month.
Kennedy’s habit of spreading scientifically disproven nonsense and Gabbard’s habit of downplaying alleged crimes by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have made both controversial picks.
Don Jr. is said to pride loyalty to his father and an anti-establishment worldview that includes a desire to implement protectionist economics and cut back on foreign military intervention, Reuters reported.
His dad has not, however, taken Don Jr.‘s counsel as gospel. Trump chose Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), whose foreign policy views are more in line with the mainstream GOP, as his nominee to lead the State Department.
Don Jr. wanted his friend Ric Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, a source told Reuters.
Don Jr. is set to join right wing venture capital fund 1789 Capital and is listed as a “Web3 ambassador” for World Liberty Financial, the Trump family crypto venture.
He plans to continue advising his father when he is back in the White House, though not on a day-to-day basis, and won’t give up podcasting.
That means he will likely remain the most active and influential Trump family member in the president’s inner cloister.
During his first term in office, that role went to Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka—the married couple were both tapped as presidential advisors.
Kushner will be informally involved in the second Trump term, advising on Middle East policy, the half dozen sources Reuters spoke to said. Kushner confirmed he has already been briefing real estate investor Steve Witkoff, Trump’s planned special envoy to the region.
Kushner, Ivanka and sibling Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, don’t plan to join the administration.
Teenage son Barron—who advised his father on which bro-y podcasts to appear on during the campaign—is busy with his studies at New York University.
While Don Jr. has emerged as an influential voice, he’s not currently advising his father full-time, and a source told Reuters that Trump’s second term may find him leaning less on his family than before.
They noted Susie Wiles, Trump’s co-campaign manager who is poised to be his White House Chief of Staff, as having built a disciplined organization that can operate without Trump leaning on his family.
“Stuff is really buttoned down,” the source told Reuters. “He may not need the family this time like he used to.”
