Here’s a look at some of the persons he has selected so far:
Susie Wiles, chief of staff
Wiles, 67, was a
senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto
manager.
Wiles has a background
in Florida politics. She helped Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida
governor. 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.
Wiles 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 Waltz, a
retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national
security adviser, a person familiar with the matter.
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 US 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’
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 US 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, UN ambassador
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 UN 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.
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.
