President-elect Donald Trump is starting to fill key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign.

Here’s a look at whom he’s selected so far.

RUSSEL VOUGHT, HEAD OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET

Trump also said he would nominate Russel Vought to lead the Office of Management and Budget, a position Vought held during Trump’s first presidency. Vought was closely involved with Project 2025, a conservative blueprint for Trump’s second term that he tried to distance himself from during the campaign.

LORI CHAVEZ-DEREMER, LABOR SECRETARY

In a separate announcement, Trump said he had chosen Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, an Oregon Republican, as his labor secretary.

“I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers,” Trump said in a statement.

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY

President-elect Donald Trump announced Friday that he’ll nominate hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, an advocate for deficit reduction, to serve as his next treasury secretary.

Bessent, 62, is the founder of hedge fund Key Square Capital Management, after having worked on and off for Soros Fund Management since 1991. If confirmed by the Senate, he would be the nation’s first openly gay treasury secretary.

BROOKE ROLLINS, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE 

President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he will nominate former White House aide Brooke Rollins to be his agriculture secretary, the last of his picks to lead executive agencies and another choice from within his established circle of advisers and allies.

Rollins, who graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in agricultural development, is a longtime Trump associate who served as his former domestic policy chief. She is president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, a group helping to lay the groundwork for a second Trump administration.

Rollins, 52, previously served as an aide to former Texas Gov. Rick Perry and ran a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation.

ROBERT F KENNEDY JR., LEAD DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday selected Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a longtime vaccine skeptic, to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, the sprawling agency responsible for administering millions of Americans’ health insurance, approving drugs and medical supplies, regulating food, and responding to infectious-disease outbreaks.

Kennedy, who in August suspended his own bid for president in hopes of winning a spot in a Trump administration, has pledged to make fighting chronic disease his signature cause.

Kennedy, founder of a major anti-vaccine group, has long criticized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended list of childhood immunizations, promoting debunked claims about vaccines’ link to autism. He has argued that federal agencies have not done enough research on the shots that hundreds of millions of Americans have received to protect them from measles, flu and other infectious diseases. His claims are rejected by health officials who say that vaccines have been thoroughly studied and are responsible for ending threats such as polio in the United States.

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday he will nominate former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Justice Department, turning to a longtime ally after his first choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration amid scrutiny over sex trafficking allegations.

Bondi has been an outspoken defender of Trump. She was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial when he was accused – but not convicted – of abusing his power as he tried to condition U.S. military assistance to Ukraine on that country investigating then-former Vice President Biden. And she was among a group of Republicans who showed up to support Trump at his New York hush money criminal trial that ended in May with a conviction on 34 felony counts.

Gaetz stepped aside amid continued fallout over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer.

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE

Gabbard, a former Hawaii congresswoman, has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields.

The 43-year-old was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party’s 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall.

“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious carreer to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement.

Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor.

The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.

ELON MUSK AND VIVEK RAMASWAMY, DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he is appointing business executives Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to lead a new commission on cutting government spending and regulation, handing an enormous portfolio to the tech billionaire who gave political and financial support to his presidential bid.

In a statement, Trump said that his billionaire ally and his former Republican primary rival will lead the Department of Government Efficiency, an idea championed by Musk. Trump said the department would operate outside of government to drive “drastic change,” while partnering with the White House and its budget office to provide recommendations to slash regulations, cut staff and overhaul federal operations.

It is not clear how the effort will be funded or whether its recommendations will be approved, because federal spending is controlled by Congress and the White House.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE

Trump named Rubio, a Florida senator, to be secretary of state, making the former sharp critic the new administration’s choice as its top diplomat.

Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket over the summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

“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.

The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man” during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.

Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio – who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the U.S. illegally – now supports Trump’s plan to use the U.S. military for mass deportations.

MIKE HUCKABEE, AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL

Trump will nominate the former Arkansas governor to be ambassador to Israel, the president-elect announced Tuesday.

Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel, and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align U.S. foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.

“He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.”

Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland.

Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

WILLIAM MCGINLEY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL

Trump says McGinley, a lawyer who served in Trump’s White House previously and worked in a key political role this year, will be his White House counsel.

McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump’s first administration, and he was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee’s election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign.

In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.”

PETE HEGSETH, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Trump announced Tuesday night that he is nominating Hegseth, a Fox News host and Army veteran, to serve as his defense secretary.

Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show. He is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free.”

Hegseth was an infantry captain in the Army National Guard and served overseas in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He was formerly head of the Concerned Veterans for America, a group backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, and he unsuccessfully ran for the Senate in Minnesota in 2012.

“With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down,” Trump said in a statement. “Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through Strength’ policy.”

JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR

Trump has picked Ratcliffe, a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during his first administration, to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency in his next.

Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term, leading the U.S. government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.

“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”

As intelligence director, Ratcliffe was criticized by Democrats in the final days of the 2020 presidential election for declassifying Russian intelligence that alleged damaging information about Democrats during the 2016 race, even though he acknowledged it might not be true.

Ratcliffe’s visibility rose as he emerged in 2019 as an ardent defender of Trump during the House’s first impeachment proceedings against him. He was a member of Trump’s impeachment advisory team and strenuously questioned witnesses during the impeachment hearings, which he called “the thinnest, fastest and weakest impeachment our country has ever seen.”

STEVEN WITKOFF, SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST

Trump on Tuesday named Witkoff, a real estate investor, to be special envoy to the Middle East.

The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect’s golf partner and was playing golf with him at Trump’s club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination.

Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”

Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, alongside former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee.

REP. MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER

Trump asked Waltz, a retired Army National Guard officer and war veteran, to be his national security adviser, Trump announced in a statement Tuesday.

The move puts Waltz in the middle of national security crises, ranging from efforts to provide weapons to Ukraine and 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.

“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First Foreign Policy agenda,” Trump’s statement said, “and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of Peace through Strength!”

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 U.S. boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.

SUSIE WILES, WHITE HOUSE 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.

Her 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.

She 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.

GOV. KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY

Trump picked a well-known conservative who faced sharp criticism for telling a story in her memoir about shooting a rambunctious dog to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hardline immigration agenda.

Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics.

South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic.

She takes over a department with a sprawling mission. In addition to key immigration agencies, the Department of Homeland Security – a sprawling federal bureaucracy with a $60 billion budget and more than 230,000 employees – oversees natural disaster response, the U.S. Secret Service, and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports.

The role is crucial, given Trump’s focus on border security.

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 U.S. 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.”

At the National Conservatism Conference, Homan said that while he thinks the government should prioritize national security threats, “no one’s off the table. If you’re here illegally, you better be looking over your shoulder.”

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.

LEE ZELDIN, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

Trump has chosen Zeldin, a former New York congressman, to serve as his pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin does not have any experience in environmental issues but is a longtime supporter of the former president.

The 44-year-old former U.S. House member from New York wrote on X, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.” “We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added.

It is an honor to join President Trump’s Cabinet as EPA Administrator.

We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI. We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water. https://t.co/FQk9XPdgcw

— Lee Zeldin (@LeeMZeldin) November 11, 2024

During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles and incorrectly referred to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate.

Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign his administration would “Drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration.

In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”

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.

REP. ELISE STEFANIK, UNITED NATIONS 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 alleged 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 U.N. 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.

 

Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri, Lolita C. Baldor, Jill Colvin, Matthew Daly, Edith M. Lederer, Lisa Mascaro, Zeke Miller and Michelle L. Price contributed to this report.

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