Trump announced Brian Burch as his pick for ambassador to the Holy See on Friday, praising him as “a devout Catholic, a father of nine, and President of CatholicVote,” a Catholic advocacy group. Burch has notably been a critic of Pope Francis in the past and shared writings from right-wing clerics who criticized the pope, Politico reported. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Burch said he will work “to promote the dignity of all people and the common good” and thanked Trump for the role. Trump picked former Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., as his secretary for veterans affairs. Collins served as a congressman from 2013 to 2021, and was known as a vocal backer of Trump in the chamber during his first administration. Collins vowed to “streamline and cut regulations in the VA, root out corruption, and ensure every veteran receives the benefits they’ve earned.” The former congressman was deployed to Iraq in 2008 as a member of the Air Force’s 94th Airlift Wing.
First elected North Dakota governor in 2016, Burgum briefly ran against Trump in the 2024 GOP primaries, but dropped out and endorsed Trump. A tech executive and investor by trade, Burgum previously ran Great Plains Software, remaining at the company after it was acquired by Microsoft. Trump nominated Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Health and Human Services Department, making good on his promise to give Kennedy broad leeway over public health. Kennedy, who ran for the Democratic nomination then as an independent candidate before dropping out and endorsing Trump, espouses debunked views on public health—including skepticism about the efficacy of childhood vaccines and the Covid-19 vaccine.
Trump tapped David Fink, whom the president-elect referred to as a fifth-generation railroader, to lead the Federal Railroad Administration. Fink is a former president of Pan Am Railways and the son of David Andrew Fink, who served as president of Guilford Transportation before it rebranded as Pan Am. Trump nominated GOP Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., for the United Nations ambassador role. Trump named Leandro Rizzuto Jr., son of the late billionaire Conair co-founder Leandro Rizzuto and former U.S. consul general to Bermuda, as ambassador to the Organization of American States. Orlando attorney Daniel Newlin, a former detective for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, is Trump’s pick for ambassador to Colombia.
Ambassador To The Organization Of American States: Leandro Rizzuto Jr.
- Ferguson has worked as an antitrust litigator and was Virginia’s solicitor general from 2022 to 2024.
- Carr has served as one of the FCC’s five commissioners since 2017, when Trump first appointed him to the agency.
- Bisignano appears much lower on AFL-CIO’s list of highest-paid CEOs for 2023, with a total pay of $27.9 million last year.
- She left the party in 2022 and became an independent, before endorsing Trump in August and announcing she had joined the Republican Party.
- Trump nominated Troy Edgar as his pick for Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, citing Edgar’s experience as Homeland Security’s chief financial officer.
- Trump picked his campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, to serve as his communications director at the White House.
- As SBA administrator, Loefller will be in charge of overseeing billions of dollars worth of loans and disaster aid to small businesses.
Musk, a vocal Trump backer who donated over $100 million to a pro-Trump super PAC, has pitched the department in the past, seemingly naming it after the meme cryptocurrency dogecoin. Trump selected Pete Hegseth as his secretary of defense, praising his status as a combat veteran and role as a co-host on Fox & Friends Weekend. Revelations subsequently emerged that Hegseth was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a Monterey, California, hotel in 2017. The Monterey Police Department confirmed in a statement that it investigated the incident, but did not bring charges. Hegseth has denied the allegations through his attorney, Timothy Parlatore, who told multiple outlets he paid his accuser a settlement to avoid a lawsuit over the matter.
Cia Director: John Ratlciffe
Jacob Helberg was appointed to serve as the State Department’s top economic policy and trade advisor. Helberg is a former Democratic donor and tech executive known as a Silicon Valley China hawk. A senior advisor to the chief executive officer at Palantir Technologies who serves on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, Helberg is played a key role in lobbying Congress to support the U.S. He married tech investor and major Republican donor Keith Rabois in 2018 in a ceremony officiated by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Bessent—who spoke recently with Forbes—had long been seen as a top choice for the role, especially as it was reported Trump was leaning toward someone with Wall Street experience.
Trump announced Mark Paoletta will return to the role he held during Trump’s first term and “will work closely” with the newly created Department of Government Efficiency led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.’s fiancée, was nominated to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Greece. Trump announced Alina Habba, who represented him in his New York civil fraud case and his Manhattan hush money case, will serve as counselor to the president.
Office Of Management And Budget General Counsel: Mark Paoletta
Huckabee has advocated for Israel to annex parts of the West Bank, which Israel occupied in 1967, and has backed Israeli settlers in the territory. A former Southern Baptist pastor, Huckabee regularly leads evangelicals on visits to Israel. Trump tapped former Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., to lead the EPA, citing his “very strong legal background” and calling him “a true fighter for America First policies” in a statement. Zeldin—a Trump ally who ran for New York governor two years ago—“will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American business while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards,” the statement said. Trump announced Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, will run a new Department of Government Efficiency (or “DOGE”) alongside investor and former Republican primary candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump said in a statement the department—which has not yet been created—will offer “advice and guidance from outside of Government” and focus on “making changes to the Federal Bureaucracy with an eye on efficiency,” including through spending and regulatory cuts.
Trump appointed Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., to serve as his national security adviser. In recent months, Waltz—a former Army Green Beret—has frequently criticized China, urged NATO members to pay more for defense and said he expects Trump to push Ukraine and Russia toward a negotiated end to the war in Ukraine. Phelan founded MSD Capital more than two and half decades ago to manage the fortune of billionaire Michael Dell. According to the Hill, Phelan was a key donor to Trump’s campaign during this election season and contributed $834,600 to the president-elect’s joint fundraising committee, Trump 47. Stanford professor and vocal Covid-19 lockdown critic Dr. Jay Bhattacharya is Trump’s pick to lead the National Institutes of Health. The letter, which was criticized by health experts including Dr. Anthony Fauci, argued for “herd immunity” for most of the population “through natural infection” while sheltering vulnerable populations.
Trump nominated Harmeet Dhillon, former vice chair of the California Republican Party, to lead the Justice Department’s office of civil rights, touting her work filing free speech lawsuits and challenges to Covid-19 restrictions in a statement. Trump selected Bill White, the former president of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, as his pick for ambassador to Belgium. The president-elect said White has raised more than $1.5 billion for injured service members. Trump announced former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as his envoy to Israel, touting his military service as he served in the Army Special Forces for 27 years. Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel and https://traderoom.info/expert-broker-reviews-is-tradeallcrypto/ has criticized the Biden administration’s calls for a cease-fire with Hamas.
- A tech executive and investor by trade, Burgum previously ran Great Plains Software, remaining at the company after it was acquired by Microsoft.
- According to his profile page on Stanford Medicine, the India-born Bhattacharya serves as professor of health policy at the university.
- Trump picked former football player Herschel Walker to serve as his ambassador to the Bahamas, a job that requires Senate confirmation.
- Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence spoke against Kennedy as the pick to lead HHS in a statement and urged Senate Republicans to reject the nomination, citing Kennedy’s support of abortion rights.
- Zeldin—a Trump ally who ran for New York governor two years ago—“will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American business while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards,” the statement said.
Kushner was pardoned by Trump in 2020 after serving a prison sentence on federal charges of tax evasion and illegal campaign donations. Trump picked Frank Bisignano, the Chairman and CEO of the financial services company Fiserv, to serve as the commissioner of the Social Security Administration. Bisignano appears much lower on AFL-CIO’s list of highest-paid CEOs for 2023, with a total pay of $27.9 million last year. Federal Election Commission filings show Bisignano’s wife, Tracy Bisignano, donated $924,600 to Trump’s campaign in October. Trump nominated Troy Edgar as his pick for Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, citing Edgar’s experience as Homeland Security’s chief financial officer. Edgar was named to that role in May 2020, and previously served as the mayor of Los Alamitos, California.
Trump tapped Steven Witkoff, a GOP donor and real estate investor, for special envoy to the Middle East. Witkoff is chairman of the University of Miami Business School Real Estate Advisory Board and the CEO of Witkoff, a real estate firm he founded in 1997. He is also a longtime friend of Trump’s and one of the president-elect’s golf partners. Witkoff was with Trump during the apparent second assassination attempt on his life, telling NBC that Secret Service agents dived on Trump and got him off his Florida golf course in under 20 seconds. Trump nominated Charles Kushner, founder of the real estate firm Kushner Companies and the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, as U.S. ambassador to France.
Patel held multiple roles in the first Trump administration, including helping lead the GOP-controlled House Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the FBI’s probe of Russia’s links to Trump’s 2016 campaign. He served as chief of staff to former acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller during Trump’s final months in office, and Trump reportedly attempted to install him as deputy CIA or FBI director in his final months in office, but reversed course amid internal backlash. Patel has remained fiercely loyal to Trump since he left office and has vowed to help Trump seek retribution against his various political enemies. He has also called for an overhaul of the FBI, writing in his book that the agency “has become so thoroughly compromised that it will remain a threat to the people unless drastic measures are taken,” according to excerpts cited by ABC News.
According to his profile page on Stanford Medicine, the India-born Bhattacharya serves as professor of health policy at the university. Trump announced David Warrington, his campaign general counsel who represented him during the House Jan. 6 committee probe, as the top White House lawyer, replacing his initial nominee, William McGinley, who Trump said will serve as counsel to the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Michael Needham will serve as a State Department counselor, advising Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Needham previously served as chief of staff to Rubio and chairs the conservative think tank American Compass. Trump tapped Christopher Landau, who previously served as ambassador to Mexico under Trump, as his deputy secretary of state, a position that requires Senate confirmation. Federal Trade commissioner Andrew N. Ferguson was selected as the agency’s chair, meaning if confirmed he will take over for Lina Khan, who has spearheaded a yearslong antitrust crackdown on large companies across the tech, grocery and pharmaceutical sectors.
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