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Breaking down Trump administration appointments
Political analyst Brian Sobel joins LiveNOW's Austin Westfall to discuss the first batch of President-elect Trump's administration appointments.
null - President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill out important positions in his new administration as he prepares for his second stint in the White House.
Here is who Trump has said he will nominate so far.
Susie Wiles, chief of staff
Susie Wiles was a senior adviser to Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager.
Wiles has a background in Florida politics and helped Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, she was crucial to Trump's defeat of DeSantis in the 2024 Republican primary.
RELATED: Who is Susie Wiles, Trump's new White House chief of staff?
Trump hiring Wiles was his first major decision as president-elect, with the Associated Press noting that Wiles is said to have earned Trump's trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump's three presidential campaigns.
Matt Gaetz, attorney general
Donald Trump says he will nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.
Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence
Donald Trump picks Tulsi Gabbard, former Democratic congresswoman, as the nominee for director of national intelligence.
Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider, compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.
The AP reported that Gabbard hasn’t worked directly in the intelligence community, outside of House committees, including two years on the Homeland Security Committee.
Like others Trump has selected for his agency leadership, Gabbard has been among his most popular political surrogates, often drawing thunderous responses from crowds as she stumped for him in the campaign’s closing months.
John Ratcliffe, head of CIA
Donald Trump announced that he is nominating former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency.
Ratcliffe, a former Republican congressman from Texas, served as director of national intelligence for the final year and a half of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Associated Press reported.
Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel
Donald Trump has named former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as nominee for ambassador to Israel, according to the Associated Press.
Huckabee is a strong defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel's interests as it wages wars against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The AP noted that Huckabee has led paid tour group visits to Israel for years, routinely advertising the trips on conservative-leaning news outlets.
Pete Hegseth, Defense secretary
Donald Trump nominated FOX News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as his defense secretary on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Fox News released the following statement:
"Pete Hegseth has been an exceptional host on FOX & Friends and FOX Nation and a best-selling author for FOX News Books for nearly a decade. His insights and analysis especially about the military resonated deeply with our viewers and made the program the major success that it is today. We are extremely proud of his work at FOX News and wish him the best of luck in Washington."
Bill McGinley, White House counsel
Bill McGinley, the former White House cabinet secretary for Donald Trump during his first administration, has been selected by Trump to be his White House counsel, the AP reported.
Mike Waltz, national security adviser
Mike Waltz is a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, and Donald Trump tapped him to be his national security adviser.
The AP noted that the move would put Waltz at the center of many national security crises, ranging from the ongoing effort to provide weapons to Ukraine and worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah.
RELATED: Trump asks Rep. Mike Waltz to be his national security adviser
Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from Florida, who also served multiple tours in Afghanistan and worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs.
According to the AP, Waltz is considered hawkish on China and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing because of its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.
Marco Rubio, secretary of state
Donald Trump picked Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as Secretary of State, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
RELATED: Trump expected to pick Sen. Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, multiple reports say
Rubio is a three-term U.S. Senator who has served in Congress since 2011 and would become the first Latino to serve as Secretary of State if he assumes the position.
The senator was also a GOP rival to Trump in the 2016 presidential primary before dropping out of the race and endorsing Trump.
Elon Musk, Department of Government Efficiency
Donald Trump announced Tuesday that Elon Musk will lead the new Department of Government Efficiency, a commission aimed at reducing government waste and cutting federal bureaucracy. Musk will work alongside entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to achieve substantial structural reforms within federal agencies.
"Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies - Essential to the ‘Save America’ Movement," Trump said in a statement.
Tom Homan, ‘border czar’
Tom Homan was selected as Donald Trump’s "border czar" and will be tasked with conducting the largest deportation operation in U.S. history.
The 62-year-old served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made a hallmark to his campaign.
RELATED: Trump to appoint Tom Homan, former ICE director, as next ‘border czar’
According to the AP, Homan has insisted a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump's policy proposals, implying at a July conference in Washington, D.C. that he would be willing to run a big deportation operation.
FILE-Republican presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump arrives to speak during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 06, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Kristi Noem, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was nominated by Donald Trump for the role of secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, CNN and FOX News reported Tuesday. Trump made an official announcement Tuesday evening.
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Noem is a long-time Trump supporter who was considered a contender for vice president.
She will be tasked with overseeing a department that oversees everything from US Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement to the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the US Secret Service.
Elise Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Donald Trump's biggest defenders going back to his first impeachment.
Stefanik was elected to the House in 2014 and was later selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election.
Stefanik, 40, also served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership. Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further elevating her national profile.
The AP reports that if Stefanik is confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump pledges to end the war started by Russia against Ukraine that began in 2022.
Trump has also called for peace as Israel continues its offensive against Hamas in Gaza and its invasion of Lebanon to target Hezbollah.
Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
Stephen Miller was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Donald Trump's priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump's first administration.
The AP reports that Miller has been a key figure in some of Trump's policy decisions, including his move to separate thousands of immigrant families.
Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation's economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally.
Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers tasked with challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security, the AP noted.
Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency
Former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin was picked by Donald Trump to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.
Zeldin is a longtime supporter of Trump and does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, the AP reported.
The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X, formerly Twitter, "We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI." "We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water," Zeldin added.
Citing a statement, the AP noted Trump said Zeldin "will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet."