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Everything About Donald Trump’s Controversial Cabinet’s Picks That Are Known So Far

2024-11-17 , 9:42 am

Donald Trump, 45th President of the United States, and the 47th President-Elect, has, in the last few days, been announcing his picks for key roles in his Cabinet.

If we base our expectations off from the last time he made his choices in 2016, the selection will be eclectic and…fascinating.

And so far, it has.

Robert F Kennedy Jr: Department of Health and Human Services

We’ll start off with a more recognisable name and also internet meme, Robert F Kennedy Jr, or RFK Jr.

Nephew of president John F. Kennedy, and son of RFK Sr (who was assassinated during a campaign run to be President), Kennedy is living up to the political machinations of the Kennedy political dynasty, and the Kennedy Curse.

Kennedy certainly has an illustrious career. Having been a well-respected environmental lawyer working in non-profits in the 80s, he started angling for a career in politics in the 2000s. That was probably the beginning of the end.

He then continued his spiral downwards by peddling anti-vaccine misinformation, conspiracies, and stoking public fears and sentiments.

Despite his claims that he wanted more “research” into what they put into vaccinations (which is a valid point), he is also responsible for the spreading of misinformation and lies.

his includes claiming that vaccinations can cause autism, and that key public figures such as Bill Gates, and Anthony Fauci were profiting off Covid-19 vaccines.

And that’s not even counting some of his opinions regarding medical racism and the LGBTQ+, and his recent health issues such as the parasite that ate part of his brain.

Anyway, for your info, he did run for president as well, but dropped out and endorsed Trump in August 2024.

Doug Burgum: Department of the Interior

Next, we have Doug Burgum, who is Trump’s pick of the Department of Interior.

No, the Department of Interior isn’t an interior designer. They are focused on the natural resources and conservation, as well as programmes related to Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Alaska Natives.

Burgum, who hails from North Dakota, has a background in Business, and became Governor in 2016. He’s led a more business-oriented approach to the way he’s governed things, something that Trump probably shares.

Trump and Burgum also share a goal towards boosting oil and gas drilling which is probably one of the reasons why Burgum was Trump’s pick for the role.

“He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said. “We’re going to do things with energy and with land interior that is going to be incredible.”

Pete Hegseth: Secretary of Defense

Now, this is interesting.

Pete Hegseth, 44, is a military veteran, and a popular conservative Fox News channel host.

He’s also friendly with Trump, which can partly explain why he was chosen as Secretary of Defense. The man has been opinionated, having lobbied Trump in the past to release service members accused of war crimes, and calling for any Commander in Chief to “clean house”.

He’s a huge proponent of traditional gender roles, critical of a diverse and inclusive army as it made them “dangerously weak” and critical of the NATO.

They’re all dangerous stances, especially since Hegseth has, during a Fox & Friends segment, thrown an axe that flew over the target and hit a drummer and U.S. Army master sergeant in the arm.

Yes, the man did recover, and it was an accident, but even so I would not count this in Hegseth’s favour or judgment considering he still participated in the segment.

Marco Rubio: Secretary of State

You may have heard of Senator Marco Rubio.

He’s thrown his hat in the ring for the Republican nomination for Presidency, and lost out to Trump in 2016. Thus, their relationship has not been friendly, though it has improved when Trump was in the White House, and Rubio was a strong candidate for Trump’s running mate in this run of the elections.

Rubio, to put it tentatively, is intensely critical of China, but supportive of Taiwan, which can be worrying for the US-Chinese political relationship, which is already tenuous.

Beijing has already sanctioned (blacklisted) Rubio twice. Rubio has been vocal of how the growing and ongoing economic and political influence has already affected the US, and will inevitably be harmful.

This might be a problem, considering how the Secretary of State is meant to be one of the world’s biggest diplomats, but here we are.

Matt Gaetz: Attorney General

There has already been a lot of controversy bringing Matt Gaetz in as Attorney General.

He’s brought a right-wing Holocaust denier to the State of the Union, tried to expel two fathers who lost children in a mass shooting from a hearing because they objected a claim he had made about gun control.

He has also been the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation on and off since 2021, for things such as alleged sexual misconduct, illicit drug use, accepting improper gifts, obstruction and other fun allegations.

A wonderful man. Yes.

Trump’s nomination of him is sending a very serious message about how his Cabinet would be running the government, but it is also troubling that Gaetz was chosen during the course of a two-hour flight.

Mike Waltz: National Security Advisor

Yes, this might not be a cabinet position, but it’s still interesting.

Trump’s pick for his national security advisor is Mike Waltz, a US congressman and retired US Army National Guard Officer. He’s served in active duty for four years, and has done multiple combat tours in Afghanistan, the MIddle EAst, and Africa.

Waltz is the first Green Beret elected to the US House and has worked as a policy advisor under two defence chiefs.

Waltz has called to overturn the 2020 election when Trump lost the race, and called for the US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Like Hegseth, he’s been vocal about his criticism of a weak military due to woke-ness and DEI.

Tulsi Gabbard: Director of National Intelligence

Okay, once again, this isn’t a cabinet positon but still an important one.

The choice to pick Tulsi Gabbard has been controversial amongst critics. Well, so have the other choices but still.

Gabbard is a former Democratic congresswoman who left the party and became a Republican to support Donald Trump.

She’s a military veteran who’s served with a medical unit in Iraq, and was first election to the Hawaii State Legislature as a 21 year-old in 2002.

Gabbard has represented Hawaii in Congress from 2013 until 2021 and has previously championed causes such as government-run healthcare, free college tuition and gun control.

She has even endorsed Joe Biden in the past for his own presidential campaign.

Gabbard however has been vocal on her critique in topics like gender and freedom of speech, having accused her former party of being “elitist cabal of warmongers” driven by “cowardly wokeness”. She has also been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda.

Gabbard’s new role would mean overseeing US intelligence agencies like the CIA, FBI and the National Security Agency (NSA), all which focus on intelligence gathering.

Kristi Noem: Secretary of Homeland Security

Like many others in the Cabinet picks, Kristi Noem is a surprise pick for many, due to her lack of experience in law enforcement and having never worked for Homeland Security.

But since we’re working with an, “Anything Goes” mental attitude at this point, why not?

Noem is the governor of South Dakota and was vouched by two men that Trump has trusted in the past: his campaign chief Corey Lewandowski, and Tom Homan, the Border Czar.

“Kristi has been very strong on Border Security,” Trump said in a statement officially announcing his selection on 12 Nov. “She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries,” he added.

And oh, just in case you’ve forgotten, Trump also gave Elon Musk a positon in his government.

In the meantime, if you’re wondering if TikTok will still be banned under Trump, watch this to the end: