what his administration will look like for his second term

UNITED STATES – More“adults in the room”. While Donald Trump's first term was marked by the influence of administration executives and experienced Republican leaders who made it possible to channel the president's impulsiveness, the billionaire seems, for his second term, to want to surround himself with a circle of faithful determined to decline the decisions of their leader, however radical they may be.

What they have in common: conservative ideas and a particular affection for false information, shamelessly relayed to serve their political agenda. Donald Trump's transition team has promised to present a first list of ministers and advisers “in the coming days and weeks”before his inauguration on January 20.

HuffPost takes stock of the confirmed names, and those expected to surround the Republican president.

· JD Vance, an ultra-conservative vice president

For the post of vice-president, there is no doubt about the casting: it is Ohio senator JD Vance who was elected this Tuesday, November 5 to enter the White House alongside Donald Trump. One of the challenges will be to know what room for maneuver the head of state will leave to his vice-president, the American Constitution not granting any executive function to the second person in state. During Trump's first term, Vice President Mike Pence played a key role in both domestic policy and diplomacy.

Very conservative, the young forty-year-old is in any case best known for his outrageous outings. JD Vance is the main representative of the “New Right”, “ a diverse group of conservative intellectuals and activists that formed at the end of the Trump presidency,” underlines Politico. One of their hobby horses: winning the “culture war” facing democrats and other human rights activists, caricatured with the term “wokists”.

Susie Wiles, the first officially named

JIM WATSON/AFP

Susie Wiles was a long-time member of the Republican Party in Florida. She supported Trump as early as 2016 and co-led his first campaign.

Donald Trump made his first major appointment on Thursday, November 7: Susie Wiles, architect of his campaign, will be his chief of staff, an ultra-strategic position never held by a woman. Under his first mandate, no less than four heads of cabinet had paraded. One of them, former general John Kelly, described him in October as “fascist”.

Discreet, the one who defined herself as a “prominent member of the Republican Party establishment” with the New York Times in 2016, eight years later, framed and organized Donald Trump's campaign until victory, underlines L’Express.

· Elon Musk in charge of “government efficiency”

JIM WATSON/AFP

Elon Musk is tipped to become the “cost killer” within the federal administration.

The richest man in the world, boss of Tesla, SpaceX and X, invested more than 100 million dollars in Donald Trump's campaign. In return, he could be responsible for fundamentally reorganizing the federal administration, at the head of a ministry of“governmental efficiency”.

If the two impetuous billionaires come to an enduring understanding, they could make 2,000 billion dollars of clear cuts in a budget of 7,000 billion. But they haven't said how yet.

· Robert F. Kennedy Jr, a questionable health scientist

REBECCA NOBLE / Getty Images via AFP

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will have an “important role in health,” promised Donald Trump a few days before his election.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, nephew of assassinated President JFK, former independent candidate aligned with Donald Trump, could be responsible for public health policies. A well-known opponent of vaccination and a big fan of conspiracy theories, he assured NBC that he “wouldn’t take away anyone’s vaccines” but said that the Americans should be able to “decide individually”.

· Richard Grenell ex-ambassador tipped for diplomacy

The Secretary of State, face of the United States abroad, will have to put to music the protectionist and isolationist diplomacy of “America first” defended by Donald Trump, particularly with regard to Ukraine, NATO and Europe. The name Richard Grenell has been circulating for months.

Described as “emissary” in the shadow of Donald Trump, he was ambassador to Germany (2018-2020), where his style became strained. He was also acting director of intelligence and special envoy for Kosovo and Serbia.

“To avoid war, it’s better to have a bastard as a diplomat”he said at the start of the year, while Donald Trump always boasted, against all evidence, of the absence of wars under his first mandate and promised that he would put an end to those in Ukraine and in the Middle East.

Richard Grenell could nevertheless be named National Security Advisor to the White House, in which case Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who said on CNN “always interested in serving this country”could become secretary of state.

· Many names for justice

This is one of the most sensitive positions, and will be all the more so since Donald Trump was convicted and indicted in four criminal cases under the Democrats and he intends to implement the expulsion on January 20 massive number of illegal immigrants. Many names are cited by the American press, notably that of Utah Senator Mike Lee. The latter notably advised the Trump team in attempts to contest the lost 2020 election.

Judge Aileen Cannon is also on the list. She is known for canceling the procedure relating to classified documents kept by Trump following his defeat in 2020. This decision, criticized for its benevolence towards Trump, is currently under appeal.

· A well-known face at Defense

To lead the Pentagon, namely the Ministry of Defense, Mike Pompeo, former head of diplomacy of Donald Trump and former director of the CIA, is the favorite.

The leadership of the CIA could fall to the former ultraconservative elected official from Texas John Ratcliffe. Unless it's Kash Patel, who served in the White House, in intelligence and at the Pentagon, before writing a book against a supposed “Deep State” at work against Donald Trump.

· Duel of billionaires for the Treasury

The position of big financier could be disputed between two billionaires, heads of investment funds: Scott Bessent, donor and economic advisor to the next president for tax cuts and increases in customs tariffs, responded cautiously on CNBC that he “will do what Donald Trump asks (him)”. He competes with financier John Paulson.

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