Billionaires, businesspeople, controversial people: here are all of Donald Trump’s appointments so far

Before his return to the White House in January, Donald Trump gradually reveals the composition of his future team.

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Most appointments must be approved by the Senate, a procedure Mr. Trump is trying to circumvent by making emergency appointments.

Here are the main personalities named or expected:

–Marco Rubio, Florida senator, named secretary of state

Known for being a supporter of a very hard line against China and Iran, this 53-year-old elected official previously co-chaired the Intelligence Committee in the Senate.

Opposed during the 2016 Republican primaries, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio exchanged schoolyard jokes. But the two men seem to have buried the hatchet.

“A staunch defender of our nation, a true friend to our allies and a fearless warrior who will never back down in the face of our adversaries,” the president-elect said in a statement.

His appointment risks giving Kyiv a cold sweat: Marco Rubio estimated at the beginning of November that it was necessary to “end” the war in Ukraine, in an “impasse” according to him.

–Matt Gaetz, elected from Florida, appointed Minister of Justice

“Matt will put an end to the exploitation of our administration,” said Donald Trump, convicted of criminal charges, who accuses the current Department of Justice of having fomented a “witch hunt” against him.

He is undoubtedly one of the most divisive and most criticized elected representatives of Congress for facts not relating to public affairs.

At only 42 years old, this elected official from Florida, regularly classified on the far right, will exercise a predominant influence in the disruptive executive that the winner of the presidential election is currently putting in place.

His appointment caused an explosion as the man is hated by the Democrats and part of his own camp.

–Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, businessmen, appointed to head a ministry of “governmental efficiency”

Billionaire Elon Musk will lead a department of “government efficiency” aimed at cutting $2,000 billion from the federal government’s budget, currently $6,500 to $7,000 billion.

This 53-year-old man, the richest in the world, promised a “just and humane” transition to federal civil servants who will be victims of these draconian cuts.

Another wealthy Trump ally, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, is expected to co-head this new ministry, whose acronym in English is DOGE.

Funny fact, Doge is also the meme of a Japanese dog named Kabosu who has become a global phenomenon and the emblem of dogecoin, a cryptocurrency originally created as a joke, but which Elon Musk became infatuated with in 2021.

–Fox News host Pete Hegseth named defense secretary

Pete Hegseth, 44, a former army commander and current anchor of Fox News, conservatives’ favorite television channel in the United States, will be the new defense minister.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice,” Donald Trump said.

–South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem named Secretary of Homeland Security

Faithful among the faithful, Kristi Noem will be head of Homeland Security, a position at the heart of Donald Trump’s immigration policies.

Once considered for the vice-presidency, the ambition of the sulphurous 52-year-old governor of South Dakota was dampened when she revealed this year that she had killed her young dog because, according to her, she was “untamable”, sparking a deluge of criticism.

–Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor

Mike Waltz, a 50-year-old Florida elected official and former special forces officer, will be Donald Trump’s national security adviser, an eminently strategic position.

With Marco Rubio, tipped to take the helm of American diplomacy, he will be the main architect of the foreign policy of the Republican president, who promised to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, without explaining how.

Very critical of China, which he described as an “existential” threat to the United States, he also castigates Russia, while believing that Washington should stop supporting Ukraine’s war effort. .

–Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic elected official, appointed to the national intelligence directorate

Donald Trump has entrusted the national intelligence directorate to a former soldier and defector from the Democratic Party whose positions favorable to Russia have caused controversy.

Just after the Russian invasion of February 2022, she wrote on the social network X: “This war and this suffering could have been avoided if the Biden administration and NATO had simply taken into account Russia’s legitimate concerns on Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO.”

–Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, named ambassador to Israel

Former Arkansas governor and Baptist pastor Mike Huckabee, 69, will be the United States ambassador to Israel, where he has visited several times.

“He loves Israel and the people of Israel and, reciprocally, the people of Israel adore him,” said Donald Trump, who decided in 2018 to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Defender of colonization, Mr. Huckabee declared in 2017 in the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim to CNN: “The occupied West Bank does not exist. There is Judea and Samaria,” the biblical name for this region that Israelis use.

–Tom Homan, former border control director, named “border czar”

Tom Homan, a veteran immigration official, will be America’s ‘border czar, tasked with implementing Donald Trump’s promise to carry out the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in the history of the United States. this country.

–Trump campaign manager Susie Wiles named White House chief of staff

Susie Wiles, the head of Donald Trump’s electoral campaign, will head his cabinet. At 67, she will be the first woman to hold this position.

–John Ratcliffe, former director of national intelligence, named head of the CIA

Donald Trump’s former national intelligence director, the ultraconservative John Ratcliffe, will head the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA.

–Elise Stefanik, New York elected official, appointed ambassador to the UN

New York MP Elise Stefanik, 40, will be the new United States ambassador to the UN, an institution that the fervent defender of Israel accused in mid-October of “languishing in anti-Semitism”.

Elected to Congress in 2014 at just 30 years old, she has gradually established herself among Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. She refused to certify the result of the presidential election won in 2020 by Joe Biden.

–Lee Zeldin, former New York elected official, appointed director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Lee Zeldin will head the EPA, with a mission to reduce climate and pollution regulations.

–Stephen Miller, close adviser to Donald Trump, named deputy director of his office

Stephen Miller has been a close advisor to Donald Trump since the days of his first successful campaign for the White House.

He was notably one of the architects of the presidential decree banning entry into American territory to nationals of several Muslim-majority countries, one of the most controversial episodes of the Trump presidency.