Will Donald Trump have full powers? The new American president will be able to rely on the Senate, which the Republicans took back from the Democrats. His party is also in a good position to retain control of the House of Representatives. By signing a resounding return to the head of the United States, Donald Trump is at the same time preparing to bring a gallery of colorful characters into the White House.
As Politico reportsDonald Trump’s campaign team has already embarked on the transition barely 12 hours after the polls closed. The Washington Post indicates for its part that the billionaire’s team has already examined thousands of applications for positions during the campaign. Overview of the personalities who should accompany him in his future administration.
JD Vance, future vice-president and figure of the “New Right”
JD Vance supported Donald Trump during the campaign and he already knows where he will sit in the White House: as vice-president. This 40-year-old ex-soldier will become the third youngest vice-president in the history of the United States. This position is all the more exposed as the 78-year-old Republican will be the oldest American leader to take the oath of office on January 20.
During this campaign, JD Vance, an unusual senator from Ohio, was mired in a series of controversies with the resurgence of old videos. In one of them, the bestselling author accused the Democrats in power of being a bunch of “unhappy cat ladies” without awareness of the “direct interest” of the country, since they lack offspring.
If he is perfectly aligned with the migratory and economic positions of his boss, he appears more to the right on other issues, such as abortion, where he has spoken out against exceptions to the bans, even in cases of rape or of incest. JD Vance has even become the leading figure of the “New Right” movement, young conservatives who are trying to give a more radical direction to Donald Trump’s isolationist and anti-immigration movement, Politico wrote in March.
Elon Musk, Minister of “Government Effectiveness”?
Elon Musk spared no effort to enable Donald Trump to be elected. The boss of SpaceX and Tesla played an absolutely unprecedented role in the tribune’s campaign, spending more than $110 million of his personal fortune to get him elected. The billionaire also organized a series of campaign meetings in favor of the Republican’s candidacy in the hotly contested state of Pennsylvania. He also did not hesitate to use his social network, X (formerly Twitter), as a sounding board for Donald Trump’s messages.
The boss of the electric car manufacturer should be rewarded. Donald Trump should charge him with profoundly reorganizing the federal administration. According to AFP, Elon Musk could take the helm of a new ministry of “Government Effectiveness”, whose primary objective is to reduce the federal budget by $2,000 billion, currently $7,000 billion.
Already, the president-elect has affirmed that he intends to task Elon Musk with conducting a “complete audit” of the American administration to drastically reform it, a mission that the richest man on the planet has accepted. Elon Musk, described by Donald Trump as a “new star” in his victory speech, is already acting as if he was nominated: he shared a photomontage of himself in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday morning.
Robert Kennedy Jr at the head of American health?
During the campaign, Donald Trump also pledged to entrust an “important role” to Robert Kennedy Jr., the nephew of former president “JFK”. This vaccine skeptic, known for spreading conspiracy theories, was an independent candidate for the American presidential election, but withdrew from the race in favor of Donald Trump. “He will restore health to America,” greeted the president-elect on stage Wednesday morning.
According to The Washington PostRobert Kennedy Jr is expected to play a role in monitoring health and food safety. He laid out plans to “clean up corruption and conflict within agencies” and “end the chronic disease epidemic” within the first 100 days of Donald Trump’s term.
As Politico recalls, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has started to put pressure on publicly for his state’s surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, to serve as secretary of Health and Human Services.
Susie Wiles, chief of staff at the White House?
The architect of Donald Trump’s comeback, political strategist Susie Wiles, could occupy the prestigious position of chief of staff at the White House. This self-effacing 67-year-old woman is the one who led the Republican’s victorious campaign. “Susie Wiles has earned the trust of Donald Trump, who appreciates her willingness to help him after he left the White House, and she is widely respected by the campaign team and members of Congress,” writes Politico. The choice is delicate, as recalled The World, to the extent that Donald Trump exhausted four chiefs of staff during the chaotic four years he spent as president of the country.
Richard Grenell, Tom Cotton…
Donald Trump has remained very mysterious about the composition of the rest of his team at the White House. The name of Richard Grenell, former United States ambassador to Germany and fierce defender of the tribune, is circulating insistently for the post of national security advisor or head of diplomacy. North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is being considered for the post of Minister of Energy, while Senator Tom Cotton is being considered for Defense.
Robert Lighthizer, a discreet former lawyer, would run for Treasury secretary, reports The World. This position would also be coveted by many personalities, reports The Washington Postwho interviewed several sources on this subject. These include Wall Street financiers Scott Bessent, a former aide to financier George Soros, who runs Key Square Capital Management, and billionaire John Paulson. Robert Lighthizer, who became an “independent” administrator of Trump Media, owner of the Truth Social network, was Trade Representative during the first term, from 2017 to 2021.
Additionally, John Fleming, a former Trump administration official and deputy chief of staff in 2020, is in talks with Donald Trump’s advisers about a high-ranking position, Politico reports. John Fleming, currently Louisiana Treasurer, has expressed interest in serving as Secretary of Commerce or Health and Human Services. Furthermore, as Politico reminds us, Florida Senator Marco Rubio did not rule out the possibility of serving in his second administrationeven if he said he had not had discussions on this subject with Donald Trump’s team.