United States: Donald Trump places his faithful in his future government

Donald Trump is making progress in forming his future administration, appointing loyalists to key positions and demanding that they can assume their duties without a laborious Senate confirmation process.

According to the “New York Times,” the president-elect is considering appointing influential Florida senator Marco Rubio as secretary of state. Marco Rubio, 53, had already been tipped to become the Republican vice-presidential candidate, with Donald Trump ultimately preferring JD Vance.

If this nomination is confirmed, it would mark a spectacular turnaround on the part of Marco Rubio, who in 2016, while facing Donald Trump in the Republican primaries, had described the billionaire as a “scammer” and “the most “the most vulgar person who ever aspired to the presidency.”

The Cuban-born senator, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last week on CNN that he was “always interested in serving this country.”

Elise Stefanik at the UN

Donald Trump also chose Elise Stefanik, a 40-year-old New York State representative, for the post of United States ambassador to the United Nations. “Elise is a fighter for America first, incredibly strong, tenacious and intelligent,” explained the man who is preparing to return to the White House in January.

Elected to Congress in 2014 at just 30 years old, Elise Stefanik has gradually established herself among Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters. She made national headlines for her impetuous defense of the president during his first impeachment proceedings in 2019, then refused to certify the presidential election won in 2020 by Joe Biden.

More recently, in December 2023, she was the protagonist of a sequence that went viral on social networks, where we see her questioning in an extremely tense manner Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University, about pro-Palestinian slogans heard on campus. Claudine Gay then resigned. Elise Stefanik accused the UN in mid-October of “languishing in anti-Semitism”.

Strong support from Israel

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, congratulated Elise Stefanik on Monday. “At a time when hatred and lies fill the halls of the UN, your resolute moral clarity is needed more than ever,” he wrote.

In American political life, the post of United States Ambassador to the United Nations often serves as a springboard to higher functions, as evidenced by the careers of Madeleine Albright, Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, Susan Rice, advisor in National Security under Barack Obama, or even George Bush Sr., who became president.

Donald Trump also announced that he would entrust the burning issue of immigration control at the borders to Tom Homan, a hard-liner. Tom Homan will be responsible for implementing the candidate’s promise to carry out the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in US history.

Susie Wiles director of his office

Another “hawk,” Florida Representative and former Special Forces fighter Michael Waltz, will be named to the crucial post of National Security Advisor, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal said Monday. The president-elect also appointed Lee Zeldin, another close friend of his, to head the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“He will ensure rapid and fair deregulation decisions are made that will boost the strength of American businesses, while maintaining the highest environmental standards,” explained the future Republican president. The winner of the presidential election should finally appoint Stephen Miller as deputy director of his office, one of his close advisors since the time of his first successful campaign for the White House.

The 45th and soon 47th American president, 78, made his first major appointment on Thursday by choosing a woman, Susie Wiles, to head his cabinet. Susie Wiles was the architect of the Republican’s victorious election campaign, which won 312 voters to Kamala Harris’s 226, and appears on track to have a majority of the popular vote.

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