Trump taps loyalists with few qualifications for top jobs

Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump and Former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard gesture as they attend a town hall event in La Crosse, Wisconsin, U.S. August 29, 2024. REUTERS/Vincent Alban/File Photo / Reuters

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump chose loyalists with little experience for several key cabinet positions on Nov. 13, stunning some allies and making clear that he is serious about reshaping - and in some cases testing - America's institutions.

Trump's choice of congressman Matt Gaetz, 42, for U.S. attorney general, America's top law enforcement officer, was a surprising pick. The former attorney has never worked in the Justice Department, or as a prosecutor, and was investigated by the Justice Department over sex trafficking allegations. His office said in 2023 that he had been told by prosecutors he would not face criminal charges.

Trump tapped Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. The former Democratic congresswoman-turned-Trump-ally has in the past spoken out against military intervention in the civil war in Syria under former President Barack Obama and implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine, America's ally.

"I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our intelligence community, championing our constitutional rights and securing peace through strength," Trump said in a statement.

Gabbard has little direct experience with intelligence work and had not been widely expected to be tapped for the post, which oversees 18 spy agencies.

She was deployed in Iraq from 2004 to 2005 as a major in the Hawaii National Guard and is now a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.

On Nov. 12, Trump chose Pete Hegseth, a Fox News commentator and veteran, to be his Secretary of Defense. Hegseth has opposed women in combat roles and questioned whether the top American general was promoted to his position because of his skin color. He also lobbied Trump during his 2017-2021 term to pardon servicemembers who allegedly committed war crimes.

Sprinkled in with those personnel choices were more conventional selections. Trump said on Nov. 13 he would nominate Senator Marco Rubio, who is a hardliner on China, as his new Secretary of State.

But on the whole, his selections signal a radical shift in the way the U.S. government conducts its business and in the role America will play in the world over the next four years.

Trump has said he wants to end the "weaponization" of the Justice Department, which he said brought politically motivated criminal cases against him to hurt his presidential candidacy. The department says it acts without political bias.

LOYALTY

One common thread for Trump's picks: He chose unfailingly loyal people who are unlikely to push back against his most controversial orders, analysts said.

Trump pledged on the campaign trail to go after his political enemies, including Democratic President Joe Biden, a pledge that Gaetz, his attorney general-designate, is unlikely to stand in the way of.

"Gaetz will do exactly as Trump says, which is why he was picked I guess," said a source close to Trump, after Gaetz's selection as was announced.

A half dozen sources close to Trump world, including donors, consultants and fundraisers, said privately that they were shocked by the choice of Gaetz because of his limited qualifications and past DOJ investigation into him.

"I was shocked that he has been nominated," Republican Senator Susan Collins, a moderate from Maine, told reporters about the Gaetz selection. "The president obviously has the right to nominate whomever he wants. But I think this is an example of why it's so important that we have the advice and consent provisions in the Constitution."

Some of Trump's other nominees also lack any meaningful qualifications. Hegseth, while a decorated combat veteran, is best known in recent years as a media personality. He will now oversee the better part of 3 million employees and the world's largest fighting force.

"Being Secretary of Defense is a very serious job, and putting someone as dangerously unqualified as Pete Hegseth into that role is something that should scare all of us," said Tammy Duckworth, a Democratic Senator from Illinois who sits on the armed services committee.

SENATE GUARDRAIL

Not only are Trump's national security and foreign policy nominees universally skeptical of helping Ukraine fend off Russia's invasion, some of their statements have been outright hostile toward Kyiv.

Gabbard, who will oversee America's sprawling foreign and domestic intelligence apparatus, has portrayed Putin as a defender of his own nation's vital national security interests. Ukraine, she has said, is a corrupt kleptocracy.

One potential guardrail that Trump and his nominees still face: the Senate.

While Trump's Republicans control the Senate and most Republican lawmakers will support his nominees for top jobs, the slate the president-elect put forward will likely give the party's remaining moderates pause and test just how loyal elected Republicans are to him and his vision.

The choice of Rubio as Secretary of State could come as a relief to U.S. partners worried that the Trump administration could pull back from its global network of alliances, including NATO, given Trump's "America First" emphasis during his campaign to return to the White House.

"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 said of Rubio in a statement.

In additional to being a China hawk, Rubio, 53, is an outspoken critic of Cuba's Communist government and strong backer of Israel.

He has in the past advocated for a more assertive U.S. foreign policy with respect to America's geopolitical foes, although recently his views have aligned more closely with those of Trump's approach to foreign policy.

Some analysts questioned whether Rubio would stand up to Trump, noting the president-elect's inclination to make personal loyalty a central requirement for administration posts.

Aaron David Miller, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who served in both Democratic and Republican administrations, said it is essential for any president's advisers to stand up to him when necessary, given the wide array of foreign policy challenges Trump will face.

"I'm trying to keep an open mind here," Miller said, noting that Rubio, because of his experience in Congress, has a better grasp of foreign policy than any of Trump's other appointees.