What Trump’s New Cabinet and Administration Picks Have in Common
A number of patterns have emerged among the people President-elect Donald J. Trump has indicated he wants to fill his cabinet and other senior-level positions in his administration.
Some points of commonality are historically typical among senior White House and cabinet officials — Harvard, Yale and Princeton are well represented among his selections’ alma maters, for instance. Other uniting factors are unprecedented: Many on the list have denied or questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, often a prerequisite for gaining Mr. Trump’s favor. And some lack the traditional qualifications shared by their predecessors.
Indeed, it appears that the most important qualifier in Mr. Trump’s mind has been fealty to him, which many of his picks have demonstrated in various ways over the past few years.
See some of the links between more than 60 potential members (in some cases pending confirmation) of the incoming administration, below.
Mr. Trump has picked two billionaires to lead key economic departments, raising questions about whether his administration will follow through on promises to boost the working class.
Scott Bessent, his choice for treasury secretary, is a hedge fund manager who invested money for George Soros, a liberal philanthropist, for more than a decade. Howard Lutnick, his pick for commerce secretary, is a Wall Street executive. Both Mr. Bessent and Mr. Lutnick have been vocal in their support for Mr. Trump’s plan to impose tariffs on imports, although they may prefer a more targeted approach.
Billionaire entrepreneurs Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will lead what Mr. Trump is calling the Department of Government Efficiency. Mr. Trump has said the new initiative would operate outside of the government and offer input to federal officials.
The president-elect has also selected major campaign donors for key positions, including four to lead cabinet agencies: Mr. Lutnick and Mr. Bessent, as well as Chris Wright to lead the Energy Department and Linda McMahon to lead the Education Department. (Ms. McMahon and Mr. Lutnick are also co-chairs of the Trump transition.) As of the last federal filing, their contributions to support Mr. Trump during the 2024 election cycle ranged from $350,000 to $20 million.
John Phelan, Mr. Trump’s pick for Navy secretary, and his wife, Amy, donated more than $1 million to Mr. Trump’s joint fund-raising campaign committee.
Steven Witkoff, a billionaire real estate mogul who has given nearly $2 million to Mr. Trump’s political causes over the past decade, was named special envoy to the Middle East. He was on the golf course with Mr. Trump in September during a second assassination attempt.
Mr. Musk poured at least $75 million into a new pro-Trump super PAC and promised on Oct. 19 to award one voter $1 million every day through Election Day. The Justice Department warned Mr. Musk that the giveaway might be illegal, but a judge in Philadelphia refused to halt the sweepstakes.
Charles Kushner, Mr. Trump’s pick for ambassador to France, is a real estate executive who gave at least $2 million to support Mr. Trump.
After Mr. Trump left the White House, Mar-a-Lago became the headquarters of the MAGA movement. Events hosted by right-wing organizations and politicians there largely replaced traditional Palm Beach society galas on the resort’s calendar, as a visit became an essential rite for many Republican candidates.
Many of Mr. Trump’s recent picks were regular fixtures at Mar-a-Lago during this time. Some did more than visit, choosing to host expensive receptions on the property. As Mar-a-Lago’s owner, Mr. Trump is the beneficiary of its profits.
Several of the proposed officials have held campaign fund-raisers or served on the host committee to support another candidate’s event. Others hosted or co-hosted larger events for organizations they lead or champion.
Mr. Trump’s criminal trial in Manhattan was a staging ground for allies to prove their loyalty. Several of his recent picks traveled to New York in the spring to show support. Some were there in a professional context. Todd Blanche, Mr. Trump’s choice for deputy attorney general, was one of his trial lawyers, and Susie Wiles, Mr. Trump’s incoming chief of staff, was co-chair of his 2024 presidential campaign.
Others, like Vice President-elect JD Vance and Doug Burgum, Mr. Trump’s pick for interior secretary, attended the trial as spectators and attacked members of the presiding judge’s family on behalf of Mr. Trump, who was under a rule of silence. Both were considered potential running mates at the time.
Mr. Trump spent much of the campaign distancing himself from Project 2025, a sprawling initiative spearheaded by the Heritage Foundation that included a “blueprint” document for a new conservative administration that was authored in part by former Trump staffers. But since winning the election, Mr. Trump has picked at least seven people with ties to the controversial conservative policy initiative to serve in his administration.
Project 2025 also includes a database of Heritage-vetted personnel intended to help a Republican president build rank-and-file staff. It remains to be seen to what extent those candidates will be hired in the new administration.
The America First Policy Institute, which like the Heritage Foundation is a pro-Trump think tank, is also heavily represented in his picks so far. At least 11 of the people among his picks have ties to the upstart policy group. Much like Project 2025, the think tank has prepared staffing plans and a policy agenda, and it reportedly has drafted nearly 300 executive orders ready for Mr. Trump’s signature.
Some of Mr. Trump’s appointees are closely linked to Fox as either hosts, former hosts or contributors. Pete Hegseth was a host on “Fox & Friends” until he became Mr. Trump’s pick for defense secretary. Mr. Hegseth’s co-host was Rachel Campos-Duffy, who is married to Sean Duffy, Mr. Trump’s cabinet pick for transportation secretary. Mr. Duffy also co-hosted a show on Fox Business.
Mr. Trump’s choice for ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, hosted a show on Fox for seven years. More recently, Mr. Ramaswamy was tapped to host a five-part series on Fox Nation.
Many more figures in Mr. Trump’s orbit are frequent guests on Fox News, and several not counted here have contributed digital columns to the Fox News website. Mr. Wright caught Mr. Trump’s attention in part through his appearances on Fox News.
The revolving door between lobbying and government is a tradition in Washington — and one of the practices Mr. Trump pledged to eliminate when he said he would “drain the swamp.” But some of the people Mr. Trump has tapped for his administration have deep ties to that very swamp.
Ms. Wiles was registered as a lobbyist until early this year. Pam Bondi, Mr. Trump’s choice for attorney general, joined a lobbying firm run by a prominent Florida fund-raiser after she finished her second term as Florida attorney general. Mr. Duffy lobbied for a coalition of airlines in 2020.
Some of Mr. Trump’s selections not shown here have acted as lobbyists without officially registering — another longstanding custom in the nation’s capital. Russell T. Vought, Mr. Trump’s choice to lead the Office of Management and Budget, noted in paperwork for his 2017 Senate confirmation hearing that he had “engaged in grassroots lobbying.”
More than two dozen of Mr. Trump’s cabinet and other senior-level picks also served in some capacity in his first administration.
Some have been chosen for roles related to their previous jobs. Thomas Homan was the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement during Mr. Trump’s first term and has been named the border czar, a position that does not require Senate confirmation, for the coming term.
Others have been tapped for roles less related to their previous positions. Ms. McMahon was the administrator of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, and she is now Mr. Trump’s choice for education secretary.
Several on this list did not have official, full-time jobs during Mr. Trump’s last term, but they were chosen by him to sit on advisory boards. Those people include Mr. Witkoff, Mr. Huckabee and Mr. Musk.
Explore the members of Mr. Trump’s proposed senior staff below.
Scott Bessent |
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Jay Bhattacharya |
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James Blair |
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Todd Blanche |
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Pam Bondi |
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Massad Boulos |
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James Braid |
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Taylor Budowich |
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Doug Burgum |
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Brendan Carr |
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Lori Chavez-DeRemer |
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Steven Cheung |
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Doug Collins |
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Sean Duffy |
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Tulsi Gabbard |
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Sergio Gor |
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Sebastian Gorka |
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Jamieson Greer |
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Vince Haley |
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Kevin Hassett |
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Pete Hegseth |
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Pete Hoekstra |
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Thomas Homan |
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Mike Huckabee |
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Keith Kellogg |
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. |
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Charles Kushner |
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Alex Latcham |
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Karoline Leavitt |
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Howard Lutnick |
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Martin A. Makary |
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Bill McGinley |
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Linda McMahon |
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Stephen Miller |
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Elon Musk |
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Janette Nesheiwat |
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Kristi Noem |
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Jim O’Neill |
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Mehmet Oz |
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Kash Patel |
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John Phelan |
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Matt Brasseaux |
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Vivek Ramaswamy |
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John Ratcliffe |
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Brooke Rollins |
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Marco Rubio |
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D. John Sauer |
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Dan Scavino |
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Will Scharf |
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Elise Stefanik |
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Scott Turner |
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JD Vance |
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Russell T. Vought |
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Michael Waltz |
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Dave Weldon |
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Matthew Whitaker |
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Susie Wiles |
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Steven Witkoff |
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Alex Wong |
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Chris Wright |
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Lee Zeldin |
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