Trump Appoints Ardent Loyalties to Key Positions

Photo: Evan Vucci Associated Press Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, during a campaign rally in North Carolina, November 4, 2024

Sébastien Blanc – Agence France-Presse in Washington

Posted yesterday at 1:28 PM Updated yesterday at 10:15 PM

• United States

Donald Trump is moving forward with the formation of his future administration, with the president-elect appointing loyalists to key positions and demanding that they be allowed to serve without a laborious Senate confirmation process.

The president-elect is considering naming influential Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as secretary of state, according to the New York Times. Rubio, 53, had previously been tipped to be the Republican vice presidential nominee, with Trump ultimately choosing J.D. Vance.

If confirmed, this nomination would mark a dramatic about-face by Marco Rubio, who in 2016, while running against Donald Trump in the Republican primaries, called the billionaire a “fraudster” and “the most vulgar person who has ever aspired to the presidency.”

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

Donald Trump has also chosen Elise Stefanik, a 40-year-old representative from New York State, for the post of United States ambassador to the United Nations.

“Elise is an America-first fighter, incredibly strong, tenacious and intelligent,” justified 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 as one of Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters.

Photo: Alex Brandon Associated Press Elise Stefanik was elected to Congress in 2014 at just 30 years old. She is seen here at Madison Square Garden on October 27, 2024.

She gained national attention for her brash defense of the president during his first impeachment trial in 2019, then refused to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election.

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More recently, in December 2023, she was the protagonist of a sequence that went viral on social media, in which she is seen questioning Claudine Gay, the president of Harvard University, in an extremely tense manner about pro-Palestinian slogans heard on campus. Ms. Gay subsequently resigned.

Elise Stefanik accused the UN in mid-October of “wallowing in anti-Semitism.”

Strong support from Israel

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

In American politics, the position of US ambassador to the United Nations often serves as a springboard to higher office, as evidenced by the careers of Madeleine Albright, who later became Secretary of State under Bill Clinton, Susan Rice, who was National Security Advisor under Barack Obama, and George Bush Sr., who became President.

Donald Trump also announced that he would hand over the hot-button issue of border control to Tom Homan, a hardliner. Mr. Homan will be tasked with carrying out the candidate’s promise to carry out the largest deportation of illegal immigrants in U.S. history.

Another “hawk,” Florida Rep. and Special Forces veteran Michael Waltz, is to be nominated for the crucial post of national security adviser, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal newspapers reported Monday.

The president-elect also appointed Lee Zeldin, another close friend of his, to head the Environmental Protection Agency.

“He will ensure that swift and fair deregulation decisions are made that will boost the strength of American businesses, while maintaining the highest environmental standards,” justified the future Republican president.

The winner of the presidential election should finally appoint Stephen Miller, one of his close advisers since his first successful campaign for the White House, as deputy chief of staff.

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Bypassing the Senate

Donald Trump has also shown his willingness to bypass the laborious confirmation processes by senators of the people he plans to appoint to key positions, despite the fact that Republicans have regained control of the upper house of Congress.

To do this, he plans to use a clause that allows the president to make temporary appointments when the Senate is not in session.

“Any Republican senator interested in the coveted position of majority leader of the United States Senate must agree to (this clause), without which we will not be able to have people confirmed in time,” wrote Mr. Trump, who will be received at the White House on Wednesday by Joe Biden.

The 45th and soon to be 47th American president, 78, made his first major appointment on Thursday by choosing a woman, Susie Wiles, to lead his cabinet.

Ms Wiles was the architect of the Republican's victorious election campaign, which saw him win all seven key states, 312 electoral votes against 226 for Kamala Harris, and appears on his way to winning the majority of the popular vote.