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Journalism of Courage
Over the past week, United States President-elect Donald Trump has made several appointments in his incoming administration, including filling 10 Cabinet-level positions.
His choices reflect the lessons he has learnt from his first term in the Oval Office, his determination to build an administration in his own image, and the unparalleled premium he places on personal loyalty.
As Team Trump takes shape, here are some key takeaways.
Trump has tapped his staunchest allies and well-wishers for the positions he considers the most important, regardless of their past experience or qualifications for the job.
The standout example is Trump’s choice of Pete Hegseth, a military veteran and an ultraconservative Fox News host who has been his die-hard supporter and advocate, as Secretary of Defence.
Hegseth, 44, will be the youngest ever in the post. With no previous experience in administration at any level, he will be in charge of the world’s most powerful military, comprising some 2.3 million personnel, with an annual operating budget of $ 900 billion.
Former Democratic Representative Tulsi Gabbard, who has been tapped to be Director of National Intelligence, has no previous experience in national security and intelligence positions – even though she has served for long in the Army National Guard.
Analyses by The New York Times and the Financial Times noted that Trump appears to have learnt lessons from his 2017-21 term, during which he, still an outsider to Washington, made more conventional appointments from the Republican policy establishment. These appointees, The New York Times said, were often “too independent” for him.
In picking Hegseth, Gabbard, and Matt Gaetz (for Attorney General), Trump has targeted the three pillars of the so-called “deep state” that frustrated him the most in his first term – the Pentagon, intelligence agencies, and the Department of Justice.
Appointees to these posts in Trump 1.0 either resigned or were fired after fundamental disagreements with Trump, including a refusal to help legitimise his presidency and overturn the results of the 2020 election.
This time, Trump has a “much better understanding of how power works in the White House and a better sense of whom to trust,” The NYT said.
The appointment of Gaetz, 42 – the subject of a now-dropped federal sex-trafficking investigation and a House Ethics Committee inquiry, and the architect of a far right revolt that ousted the Republican Speaker Kevin McCarthy – is key in the context of the legal challenges that the President-elect continues to face.
A pliant head of the Department of Justice could simply dismiss the two federal cases against Trump (related to the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack and his handling of confidential documents after he left the White House), without putting the President in a situation in which he has to pardon himself.
Gaetz has been a strong critic of the DoJ and FBI, organisations that he will, if confirmed by the Senate, head as America’s top law enforcement officer.
Most of Trump’s appointments will have to be confirmed in the Senate, which will be under Republican control come January.
Several Republican leaders are said to be unhappy or uncomfortable with Trump’s choices, and almost all American media organisations have reported their surprise and disappointment. Gaetz’s confirmation, especially, is said to be up in the air, given that he is disliked by a number of both Democrats and Republicans.
Given the mandate Trump has got from American voters, however, most Republican Senators will likely fall in line. The only Republican Senator to have broken publicly from Trump’s choice so far has been Susan Collins of Maine, who has specifically questioned the choice of Gaetz.
Trump, on his part, has hinted that he wants to make “recess appointments”, which would bypass hearings in Congress.
Trump seems likely to be far more effective in furthering his political agenda in his second term than he was in his first. With a cabal of ardent loyalists backing him, and a massive mandate that has seen Republicans take control of both the House and Senate apart from the White House, there is seemingly very little that could thwart his legislative agenda.
He is also likely wiser from his previous experience as President, and might be better able to control some natural impulses of his personality that commentators have repeatedly flagged as hurting his own objectives. A presidency of radical change is likely for the US and the world.
