President-elect Donald Trump is filling key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.
Here’s a look at who he’s selected so far.
RFK Jr, Health and Human Services
Trump will nominate vaccine skeptic and conspiracy-spreader Robert F Kennedy Jr to lead America’s largest public health body, the Department of Health and Human Services.
The president-elect wrote on Twitter on Thursday afternoon: “I am thrilled to announce Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). For too long, Americans have been crushed by the industrial food complex and drug companies who have engaged in deception, misinformation, and disinformation when it comes to Public Health.”
Kennedy is known for repeating widely-debunked and often ludicrous conspiracies about health that have left commentators concerned for the future of America’s health system under his watch.
Matt Gaetz, Attorney General
In one of the more shocking announcements, Trump said he would tap Florida Representative, Matt Gaetz, to be the next attorney general – the top law enforcement position in the United States that Trump has promised to utilize to seek revenge on his opponents and enemies.
Gaetz, a Trump loyalist and controversial figure in Congress, is well-known for sending the House into leadership chaos last year by making a motion of vacate then-speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy. He was also subject to Justice Department investigation into allegations of sex trafficking. He was ultimately never charged with a crime but remains under a House ethics investigation.
“Matt is a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the William & Mary College of Law, who has distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice. Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponization of our Justice System,” Trump said in the announcement.
Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence
Gabbard, a veteran and former Democrat congressman who promoted conspiracy theories about the U.S.’s involvement in Ukraine, has been selected to head the U.S. intelligence community.
If selected, her job will require her to oversee the intelligence programs tasked with gathering and understanding intel from across the globe.
Gabbard once was a member of the Democratic Party, representing Hawaii’s second congressional district. She left her position to embark on an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2020. Afterwaters, she changed her party affiliation to Independent.
But earlier this year, Gabbard joined the Republican Party, endorsed Trump and joined his presidential transition team.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State
The Florida Republican Senator was officially chosen to serve as Trump’s Secretary of State on November 13 after much speculation.
Rubio has been a prominent Republican member of Congress and made an unsuccessful bid for White House in 2016 against Trump. Despite losing, he still maintained a strong pressence and was reportedly a contendor to be Trump’s running mate this past year.
“Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom. He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump wrote in the announcement.
Rubio’s approach to foreign politics is described as “hawkish” especially when it comes to Iran and China. He is highly supportive of Israel and wary about the U.S. intervening in the Ukraine–Russia conflict.
If confirmed, Rubio will be the first Latino to serve as secretary of state.
Doug Burgum, Interior Department
Trump has chosen North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head the Interior Department.
Burgum, 67, grew up in tiny Arthur, North Dakota, population 328. He earned a bachelor’s degree from North Dakota State University and his master’s of business administration from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
He went on to become a wealthy software executive. He led Great Plains Software, which Microsoft acquired for $1.1 billion in 2001. Burgum stayed on as a vice president until 2007. He’s also led other companies in real estate development and venture capital.
John Ratcliffe, CIA director
Trump has announced his intention to nominate John Ratcliffe, his former director of national intelligence, to be head of the CIA.
“From exposing fake Russian collusion to be a Clinton campaign operation, to catching the FBl’s abuse of Civil Liberties at the FISA Court, John Ratcliffe has always been a warrior for Truth and Honesty with the American Public,” Trump wrote in a statement on Truth Social on Tuesday. “When 51 intelligence officials were lying about Hunter Biden’s laptop, there was one, John Ratcliffe, telling the truth to the American People.”
Prior to serving in the Trump administration, Ratcliffe was a Republican congressman for Texas, serving on the House intelligence, judiciary, and homeland security committees.
In the House, Ratcliffe was critical of the investigations into ties between Russia and the 2016 Trump campaign, and helped pursue Republican priorities like scrunitizing Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son.
Ratcliffe currently is the co-chair of the Center for American Security at the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank.
Pete Hegseth, Secretary of Defense
In one of the more surprising announcements so far, Trump will nominate Fox News host and veteran Pete Hegseth to be Secretary of Defense.
“Pete has spent his entire life as a Warrior for the Troops, and for the Country. Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First,” the president-elect said in a statement on Tuesday. “With Pere at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down.”
Hegseth, 44, is a former Bear Stearns banker who later served tours with the Army National Guard in Guantánamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as led veterans-focused advocacy organizations. He joined Fox News as a contributor in 2014 and co-hosts “Fox & Friends.”
Kristi Noem, Head of the Department of Homeland Security
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been chosen to head the Department of Homeland Security, one of the biggest government agencies that will be integral to Trump’s vow to secure the border and carry out a massive deportation operation.
The 52-year-old was born in Watertown, South Dakota, and raised on a ranch and farm outside the city.
She was involved in a number of family businesses before successfully running for the South Dakota House of Representatives in 2006. In 2010, she won the state’s at-large House seat, and in 2018, she was elected the state’s first female governor. She was reelected in 2022.
She was vilified this year for a story she told in her book about killing her 14-month-old wirehaired pointer named Cricket.
Susie Wiles, Chief of staff
Susie Wiles was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager.
The 67 year-old has a background in Florida politics. She helped Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor but later fell out with him. Six years later, she was key to Trump’s defeat of him in the 2024 Republican primary.
Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration considering her close relationship with the president-elect. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns.
She was able to help keep Trump on track as few others have, not by criticizing his impulses, but by winning his respect by demonstrating his success after taking her advice.
Mike Waltz, National Security Adviser
Trump asked Mike Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, a person familiar with the matter said Monday.
The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter before Trump made a formal announcement.
The move would put Waltz at the forefront of a litany of national security crises, ranging from the ongoing effort to provide weapons to Ukraine and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea to the persistent attacks in the Middle East by Iran proxies and the push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas and Hezbollah.
Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs.
He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its ongoing mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.
Tom Homan, Border czar
Tom Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.
Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign.
Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump’s policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
Democrats have criticized Homan for his defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border.
Elise Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
Elise Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump’s staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment.
Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was 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, has 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 raising her national profile.
If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the U.N. as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine begun in 2022. He 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
Miller, an immigration hardliner, was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump’s first administration.
Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families and he helped craft the Trump administration’s travel ban from majority-Muslim countries.
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 aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security.
Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency
Trump has chosen former New York Rep. Lee Zeldin to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protective Agency.
Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. He represented Long Island in the House of Representatives from 2015 to 2023 before he left to run for governor. During his time in Congress he frequently voted against environmental-friendly bills.
The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X: “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,” he added.
During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referring to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration.
In a statement, 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.”
