Trump's Appointments: Who He Nominated for Key Positions

President-elect Donald Trump is beginning to fill key positions in his second administration, picking aides and allies who were his strongest supporters during the 2024 campaign. The top picks are being announced Associated Press и Air force.

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Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense

Hegseth, 44, is the host of Fox & Friends Weekend on Fox News. He has been with the network since 2014, where he became friends with Trump, who has appeared regularly on the show.

Hegseth has no senior military or national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would take office at a time of global crises, from Russia’s war in Ukraine and ongoing attacks in the Middle East, the conflict between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, to growing concerns about a deepening alliance between Russia and North Korea.

Hegseth is the author of "War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the People Who Keep Our Freedom," published this year.

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Kristi Noem, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

The president-elect has chosen a well-known conservative figure to lead the agency, which is central to the president-elect's hard-line immigration policies. Noem was widely criticized for an autobiographical story in which she told of shooting a barking dog.

Noem has used her two terms as governor of the small state to rise to prominence in Republican politics.

South Dakota typically doesn’t attract much political attention. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem refused to impose the restrictions used in other states and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks show at Mount Rushmore in July 2020, one of the first major public events of the pandemic.

She will now lead a department with a wide range of responsibilities. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security is responsible for natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports.

William McGinley, White House Counsel

William McGinley, a lawyer who served in the administration of the 45th president, will now be his White House adviser.

McGinley served as White House Cabinet secretary during the president-elect's first term and as outside counsel on the Republican National Committee's election integrity efforts during the 2024 campaign.

In a statement, Trump called McGinley "a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, fight for election integrity, and fight against the weaponization of law enforcement."

John Ratcliffe, Director of the CIA

The president-elect has chosen John Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence in his first administration, to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next administration.

Ratcliffe served as director of national intelligence for the last year and a half of Trump's first term, leading the U.S. government's intelligence agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.

"I look forward to John becoming the first person ever to hold both of our Nation's top intelligence positions," Trump said, calling him "a fearless champion of the constitutional rights of all Americans" who will ensure "the highest levels of national security and peace through strength."

Stephen Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East

On Tuesday, November 12, Trump appointed real estate investor Steven Witkoff as his special envoy to the Middle East.

Witkoff, 67, is the president-elect's golf partner and was playing with him at Trump's club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15 when the 45th president became the target of a second assassination attempt.

Trump said Witkoff "is a highly respected leader in business and philanthropy. Steve will be a relentless voice for peace and will make us all proud."

Trump also named Wittkoff co-chairman of his inaugural committee along with former Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler.

Mike Huckabee, Ambassador to Israel

The president-elect announced on November 12 that he would nominate former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be ambassador to Israel.

Huckabee is a vocal defender of Israel, and his proposed appointment coincides with Trump's pledge to more closely align U.S. foreign policy with Israel's interests as it wages wars against Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.

"He loves Israel, and the people of Israel love him," Trump said. "Mike will work tirelessly to bring peace to the Middle East."

Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, was a popular figure among conservative evangelical Christians, many of whom support Israel because they revere the Old Testament, which says Jews are God’s chosen people and Israel is their rightful homeland. They praised Trump for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Mike Waltz, National Security Advisor

Trump has asked Waltz, a retired National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser.

The move puts Waltz at the center of national security crises ranging from arms sales to Ukraine, concerns about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea, to persistent attacks in the Middle East and the push for a cease-fire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah.

"Mike has been a strong supporter of my foreign policy," Trump said in a statement, "and will be a strong supporter of our pursuit of peace through strength!"

Waltz is a three-term Republican congressman from east-central Florida. He served in Afghanistan and also worked at the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense secretaries.

He is seen as a hawk on China; he has called on the US to boycott the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing over the country's role in COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the Uighur Muslim minority.

Susie Wiles, Chief of Staff

Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto leader.

Wiles has experience in Florida politics. She helped Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, Susie played a key role in Trump defeating DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary.

Trump’s hiring of Wiles marks his first major move as president-elect, and the choice could be a significant test for his administration given her close relationship with him. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust by successfully managing the most organized of his three presidential campaigns.

She managed to maintain Trump's discipline not by criticizing his decisions, but by winning his respect for the successes achieved thanks to her advice.

Tom Homan, "The Frontier King"

Homan, 62, was appointed by Trump to carry out the top task of organizing the largest deportation operation in the country's history.

Homan, who led ICE under Trump in his first administration, was given the job in an expected move as the president-elect made the border issue a central part of his campaign.

While Homan insists such a large-scale action would be humane, he has long supported Trump's immigration policy proposals and told a conference in Washington in July that he was prepared to "carry out the largest deportation operation in U.S. history."

Democrats have criticized Homan for defending the "zero tolerance" policy on border crossings during the first Trump administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border.

Elise Stefanik, Ambassador to the UN

Stefanik is a New York representative and one of Trump's staunchest defenders since his first impeachment.

Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was chosen by her Republican colleagues to chair the House Republican Conference in 2021 after former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed for publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming to have won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has held the position since then as the third-highest-ranking member of House leadership.

Her questions to university presidents about anti-Semitism on campuses led to the resignation of two of them, enhancing her national reputation.

If confirmed, she would represent the United States at the United Nations. Trump has vowed to end Russia's war against Ukraine. He has also advocated for peace in the Middle East as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to combat Hezbollah.

Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

Miller, a hardliner on immigration issues, supported the 45th president's ideas for mass deportations. Miller, 39, was a senior adviser in the first Trump administration.

Miller has been a central figure in some of the 45th president's policies, including his move to separate thousands of immigrant families.

Trump has argued throughout the campaign that the country’s economic, national, and social priorities can be achieved by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. After Trump left office in 2021, Miller became president of America First Legal, an organization of former Trump advisers that aims to challenge the Biden administration, media companies, and universities on issues like free speech and national security.

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency

Trump has chosen former New York Representative Lee Zeldin as his nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin appears to have no experience on environmental issues, but he is a longtime supporter of the 45th president. The 44-year-old former member of the United States House of Representatives from New York wrote in X: “We will restore U.S. energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring American jobs back, and make the U.S. the world leader in artificial intelligence.”

"We will do this by protecting access to clean air and water," he added.

During his campaign, Trump frequently criticized the Biden administration's push for electric vehicles, calling the electric vehicle tax credit a "government mandate." Trump often told his audiences during the campaign that his administration would "drill, baby, drill," referring to his support for expanded oil exploration.

In a statement, Trump said Zeldin "will ensure fair and swift deregulatory solutions are passed in a way that unleashes the power of American business while maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet."

John Thune, Senate Majority Leader

Senator John Thune of South Dakota was elected as the leader of the Republican Party faction in the US Senate. He received the most votes during the secret ballot, which also included Florida representative Rick Scott, a politician supported by Donald Trump's inner circle.

Previously, the Republican leader in the Senate was Mitch McConnell, a position he held for the past 17 years.

As BBC correspondents report, Scott's candidacy was supported by the world's richest man, owner of Tesla and Space X Elon Musk, who closely cooperates with Trump and will receive a position in his administration. Scott is considered a less traditional politician and the most prominent representative of the Trump wing of the Republican Party.

However, the senators preferred the more familiar Senator Thune, who had been the second most influential Republican in the Senate (after McConnell) for the previous four years.

According to a BBC correspondent in the US, Trump is not formally interfering in the election of the Republican leader in the Senate, but members of his entourage tried to influence it. Therefore, the election of Thune can be seen as a demonstration of some independence of the senators from the future owner of the White House.

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State

On November 13, the newly elected president officially nominated Florida Senator Marco Rubio to head the State Department in his future administration. American media had previously written about this possibility.

In January, when the U.S. officially changes administrations, Rubio will become the first Latino (albeit a Florida native) to lead the State Department.

Rubio has repeatedly advocated for a tougher U.S. foreign policy toward America’s “geopolitical enemies,” including China, Iran, and Cuba, in the past. He voted against Congress’s latest aid package to Kyiv, among other things.

Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence

Conservative Fox News commentator and former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has been named Director of National Intelligence.

Gabbard is known as an opponent of the allocation of military aid to Kyiv.

On February 24, 2022, when the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine began, she wrote on social media X: “This war and all the suffering could have been easily avoided if the Biden administration and NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns about Ukraine’s potential NATO membership, which would mean the presence of American and NATO troops right on Russia’s border.”

In 2017, she visited Syria and met with the country's president, Bashar al-Assad, even though he had already faced numerous accusations of gross human rights violations during the war.

Matt Gaetz, Attorney General

Another Trump appointee is Congressman Matt Gaetz, who has been asked to head the Justice Department, meaning he will become the U.S. attorney general. His candidacy is likely to cause considerable controversy, since Gaetz was suspected of crimes, but charges were never brought due to lack of evidence.

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Gaetz, 42, has been a congressman since 2017 and is one of Trump's most loyal supporters in the US Congress.

He was suspected of trafficking children for sexual exploitation. The Justice Department declined to bring charges, but Gaetz remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.

Gaetz was also the main initiator of the removal of Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy in October 2023. McCarthy himself said that the initiative for his resignation could be connected with the fact that congressmen decided to investigate Gaetz's activities.

The nominees for the leadership of the new Trump administration must still be confirmed by the US Senate.

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