WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s personnel choices for his new Cabinet and White House reflect his signature positions on immigration and trade, but also a range of positions and backgrounds that raise questions about which ideological anchors could guide his encore in the Oval Office.
With a quick montage from him second government – faster than his effort eight years ago – the former and incoming president has combined television personalitiesformer Democrats, a struggling executive branch and traditionally elected Republicans in a mix that makes his intentions clear impose tariffs on imported goods and erupts illegal immigration, but leaves open a range of possibilities for other policy activities.
“The president has his two big priorities and doesn’t feel as strongly about anything else — so it’s going to be a real jump ball and zigzag,” predicted Marc Short, chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s 2017-2021 term. . “During the first administration, he surrounded himself with more conservative thinkers, and the results showed that we were largely moving in the same direction. This is more eclectic.”
Indeed, the person designated by the Secretary of State Marco Rubiothe Florida senator who has pilloried authoritarian regimes around the world is poised to serve as top diplomat for a president who praises autocratic leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Republican representative. Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon has been invited to the Cabinet table as pro-union Secretary of Labor, alongside several billionaires, former governors and others who oppose making it easier for workers to organize themselves.
The future Minister of Finance, Scott Bessentwant to reduce shortages for a president who promised more tax cuts, better veterans services and no rollback of the biggest federal spending: Social Security, Medicare and national defense.
Supporter of abortion rights Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, which Trump’s conservative Christian base has long targeted as an agency where the anti-abortion movement should exert more influence.
Former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted that members of Trump’s list will not always agree with the president, especially with each other. But he minimized the chance of irreconcilable differences: “A strong cabinet means by definition that you will have people with different opinions and different skills.”
That kind of unpredictability is at the core of Trump’s political identity. He’s the former reality TV star who once rocked Washington and is now returning to power with sweeping, sometimes contradictory promises that convinced voters, especially working-class voters, that he’ll do it all again .
“What Donald Trump has done is reorient political leadership and activism toward a more entrepreneurial spirit,” Gingrich said.
There’s also plenty of room for conflict, given its breadth Trump’s 2024 campaign promises and his pattern of cycling by Cabinet members and national security personnel during his first term.
This time, Trump has promised to impose tariffs on foreign goods, end illegal immigration and launch a mass deportation force, boost U.S. energy production and exact retaliation against people who opposed him — and persecuted him . He has added promises to cut taxes, raise wages and end wars Israel And Ukrainestreamline government, protect Social Security and Medicare, help veterans, and suppress cultural progressivism.
Trump hinted at some of those promises in recent weeks as he finalized his proposed list of federal department heads and named top White House staffers. But his announcements ignored any policy paradoxes or possible complications.
Bessent has gone on a crusade as a shortage hawk and has warned that the rising national debtcombined with higher interest rates, fuels consumer inflation. But he also supports extending Trump’s 2017 tax cuts, which increase the overall debt burden and annual debt service payments to investors who buy government bonds.
Bessent, a hedge fund billionaire, built his wealth on global markets. Still, he has generally endorsed Trump’s tariffs. He rejects the idea that they fuel inflation and instead views tariffs as one-time price adjustments and as leverage to achieve U.S. foreign policy and domestic economic goals.
Trump, for his part, declared that Bessent would help “usher in a new Golden Age for the United States.”
Chavez-DeRemer, Trump promised, “will create a historic partnership between business and labor that will restore the American dream for working families.”
Trump did not address the Oregon congressman’s staunch support for the PRO Act, a Democratic-backed measure that would make it easier for workers to unionize, among other provisions. That proposal passed the House when Democrats had a majority. But it has not had measurable Republican support in either chamber on Capitol Hill, and Trump has never made it part of his agenda.
When Trump appointed Kennedy as health secretary, he made no mention of the former Democrat’s support for abortion rights. Instead, Trump emphasized Kennedy’s intention to target America’s agricultural, food processing and drug manufacturing sectors.
The vagaries of Trump’s foreign policy are also striking. Trump’s choice for national security advisorFlorida Rep. Mike Waltz delivered mixed messages Sunday as he discussed the war between Russia and Ukraine, which Trump said would never have started if he had been president because he would have persuaded Putin not to invade his neighbor.
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Waltz reiterated Trump’s concerns about recent escalations, including the endorsement of President Joe Biden sending anti-personnel landmines to Ukrainian forces.
“We must restore deterrence, restore peace and stay ahead of this ladder of escalation, rather than reacting to it,” Waltz said. But in the same interview, Waltz stated that the mines are necessary to help Ukraine “stop Russian gains” and said he is working “hand in hand” with Biden’s team during the transition.
Meanwhile, Tulsi Gabbard, Trump’s choice for director of national intelligencethe top intelligence post in the government, is an outspoken defender of Putin and Syrian President Bashar al Assad, a close ally of Russia and Iran.
Perhaps the biggest wildcards of Trump’s government constellation are budget and spending advisers Russell Vought, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Vought headed Trump’s Office of Management and Budget during his first term and is again in line for the same post. Musk, the richest man in the world, and Ramaswamy, a mega-millionaire venture capitalist, lead an outside advisory panel known as the “Department of Government Efficiency.”
This latest effort is a quasi-official exercise in identifying waste. It has no legal authority, but Trump can forward Musk and Ramaswamy’s recommendations to official government channels, including through Vought.
A leading author of Project 2025Vought, the conservative movement’s blueprint for a radical turn in American government and society, sees OMB not only as an influential agency to shape Trump’s budget proposals for Congress, but also as a power center of the executive branch,” powerful enough to override the executive agencies.” bureaucracies.”
As for how Trump might handle disagreements within his administration, Gingrich pointed to Chavez-DeRemer.
“He may not agree with her on union issues, but he may not stop her from pushing it through herself,” Gingrich said of the PRO Act. ‘And he will listen to everyone. If you convince him, he will definitely spend presidential capital.”
Short said it’s more likely that other factors influence Trump: personalities and of course loyalty.
Vought “brought him potential cuts” during the first administration, Short said, “that Trump would not agree to.” This time, Short continued, “maybe Elon and Vivek can provide backup,” giving Vought the imprimatur of two wealthy businessmen.
“He will always calculate who has been good to him,” Short said. “You can already see that: the unions got the labor minister they wanted, and Putin and Assad got the DNI (intelligence chief) they wanted. … This isn’t so much a team-of-rivals situation. I think it’s going to be a lot like a reality TV show.