With Donald Trump’s inauguration a day away, the president-elect’s administration is getting ready to play its part in his second stint in the White House.
During the campaign, Mr Trump avoided directly confirming any appointments but frequently dropped hints about who he would like in his top team.
Most of those chosen by the president-elect must be questioned by members of the Senate before it votes on their appointment. Even with the Republicans in control, some picks are controversial and could be blocked.
Who is in?
Susie Wiles
Susie Wiles is a veteran Republican campaign manager – having helped Ronald Reagan and Ron DeSantis get elected as well as Donald Trump in 2016 and 2024. She was the first member of his team to be announced – and becomes the first female chief-of-staff in American history.
The 67-year-old, who lives in Florida, has a political career that spans decades but has largely kept out of the limelight and rarely given interviews.
She is the daughter of late American footballer Pat Summerall and one of her first jobs in politics was as an assistant to one of his former New York Giants teammates when he became a Republican representative.
Outside politics, she has worked in the private sector as a lobbyist, for both Ballard Partners, whose clients include Amazon, Google, and the MLB (Major League Baseball), and then Mercury, which works with Elon Musk’s SpaceX and the embassy of Qatar.
This time around, Mr Trump credited her with his “best-run” presidential campaign, describing her as “incredible” at a Milwaukee rally earlier this year, and an “ice maiden” in his victory speech.
Elon Musk
Tech billionaire Elon Musk became one of Mr Trump’s staunchest supporters in the months leading up to the election and spent at least $119m (£92m) canvassing for him in the seven battleground states.
Awarding his loyalty, Mr Trump announced the Tesla and X owner as co-leader of the new Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
In a statement, the president-elect said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Despite its name, the DOGE is not a government agency and is instead set to provide “advice and guidance” from the outside of government.
The statement released by Mr Trump said it will partner with the office of management and budget to “drive large-scale structural reform, and create an entrepreneurial approach to government never seen before”.
The department has been given a deadline of 4 July 2026 to conclude its work.
Vivek Ramaswamy
The former Republican presidential candidate will join Mr Musk in leading DOGE.
Mr Ramaswamy, the founder of a pharmaceutical company, suspended his campaign in January to support Mr Trump.
In his 2021 bestseller book Woke, Inc, Mr Ramaswamy criticised the decisions of some big companies to base business strategy around social justice and climate change concerns.
Dave Weldon
The president-elect has picked former Florida congressman and doctor Dave Weldon as his choice to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC responds to infectious disease outbreaks, including recommending routine vaccines used in childhood. While in Congress, he pushed a false theory that some vaccines are linked to a rise in autism.
Pam Bondi
Pam Bondi has been named as Mr Trump’s nomination for attorney general, the country’s top legal official.
A former attorney general of Florida, Ms Bondi was also one of Mr Trump’s lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
She was among a group of Republicans who turned up in a show of support for Mr Trump at his hush money criminal trial in New York last May.
She has been a chair at the America First Policy Institute, which is a thinktank set up by Mr Trump’s former staff.
Pete Hegseth
Former Fox News commentator and National Guard veteran Pete Hegseth has been picked as Mr Trump’s defence secretary.
In a statement, the president-elect described the 44-year-old as “tough, smart and a true believer in America First”.
If confirmed by the Senate, Mr Hegseth could make good on Mr Trump’s campaign promises to rid the US military of
generals who he accuses of pursuing progressive policies on diversity in the ranks that conservatives have rallied against.
He was accused of lacking the competence for the job, during a much-disrupted Senate confirmation hearing earlier this week.
He is a controversial choice because of past statements and actions, including allegations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and derisive views about women in military combat roles and minorities.
Republican Senator Roger Wicker, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said that “Mr Hegseth has admitted to falling short as we all do from time to time”, but had no doubt he “will excel in a skill in which many of his predecessors have fallen short”.
In contrast, Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the committee, told Mr Hegseth: “I do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job.”
Mr Hegseth said in response: “The primary charge [Donald Trump] gave me was to bring the warrior culture back to the department of defence.
“He, like me, wants a Pentagon laser-focused on lethality, meritocracy, warfare, fighting, accountability and readiness to stop bombing that night in our homeland.”
Doug Bergum
North Dakota governor Doug Bergum has been chosen by Mr Trump to be head of the interior department.
The wealthy software executive, 68, won the governorship in 2016. He also ran for president from June to December 2023 before endorsing Mr Trump in January of last year.
Howard Lutnick
Howard Lutnick is the head of brokerage and investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and is a cryptocurrency enthusiast.
The 63-year-old has been nominated as commerce secretary, which would put him in charge of an agency that is involved in funding new computer chip factories, imposing trade restrictions, releasing economic data and monitoring the weather. It is also a position in which connections to chief executives and the wider business community are crucial.
Mr Lutnick is also a co-chair of Mr Trump’s transition team and has become part of the president-elect’s inner circle.
He is a major supporter of Mr Trump’s controversial tariffs plan.
Janette Nesheiwat
The next surgeon general – the country’s top health educator – of the US will be Janette Nesheiwat, if Mr Trump’s pick is approved.
Ms Nesheiwat is a GP who served as medical director for CityMD, a network of urgent care centres in New York and New Jersey.
She is also a contributor on Fox News.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
Mr Trump has confirmed vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as his pick for health secretary – meaning he will oversee a huge department that includes the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Medicare.
The president-elect wrote on X that RFK Jr will “restore these Agencies to the traditions of Gold Standard Scientific Research, and beacons of Transparency, to end the Chronic Disease epidemic, and to Make America Great and Healthy Again”.
RFK Jr abandoned his independent presidential campaign to back Mr Trump in August.
It was a move that saw RFK Jr condemned by many members of his family, but as with Mr Musk, his public support has been rewarded.
Mr Kennedy – the son of politician Robert F Kennedy and the nephew of assassinated president John F Kennedy – made a name for himself as a vaccine sceptic during the COVID-19 pandemic and has frequently repeated debunked claims, including linking vaccines to autism in children.
He has claimed Mr Trump will push to remove fluoride from drinking water on his first day in office. The addition of the compound has been cited as helping to improve dental health.
But RFK Jr’s controversial views could see him struggle to land enough votes to have his role confirmed, even in a Republican-controlled Senate.
Dr Mehmet Oz
Mr Trump named Dr Mehmet Oz as his administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“Dr Oz will be a leader in incentivising disease prevention, so we get the best results in the world for every dollar we spend on healthcare in our great country,” the president-elect said in a statement.
Dr Oz unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Pennsylvania as a Republican in 2022 and is an outspoken supporter of Mr Trump.
Best known as a broadcaster, The Dr Oz Show aired its final episode on 14 January, 2022, after over a decade on the air.
Dr Oz’s promotion of alternative medicine, faith healing and various paranormal beliefs both on and off the show has earned him criticism from a number of medical publications and physicians.
Marco Rubio
Donald Trump has named Marco Rubio as his secretary of state pick.
Mr Rubio, a Florida senator, unsuccessfully ran against Mr Trump to be the Republican presidential candidate in 2016.
In the past, the 53-year-old has advocated for muscular foreign policy with respect to the US’s geopolitical rivals, including China, Iran and Cuba.
However, over the last several years he has softened some of his stances to align more closely with Mr Trump’s views.
He was a contender to be his 2024 running mate before JD Vance landed the role.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Mr Trump has chosen Oregon congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer to serve as labour secretary to build the workforce and support Americans.
Ms Chavez-DeRemer, who was elected to Congress in 2022, lost her seat to Democrat Janelle Bynum earlier in November.
She has previously supported the expansion of labour rights and has the support of major unions.
Scott Turner
National Football League veteran Scott Turner is Mr Trump’s pick to serve as housing and urban development secretary.
He also ran the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Mr Trump’s first term in office.
He is also a former state representative in Texas.
Sebastian Gorka
Mr Trump has chosen Sebastian Gorka to be deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, adding he has more than 30 years of experience in national security.
He was pushed out of the first Trump administration months after the president-elect took office in 2017.
Linda McMahon
Billionaire professional wrestling mogul Linda McMahon has been nominated to be secretary of the education department, tasked with overseeing an agency Mr Trump has promised to dismantle.
Ms McMahon, a major Trump donor, led the Small Business Administration during the president-elect’s initial term from 2017 to 2019 and twice ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate as a Republican in Connecticut.
She served on the Connecticut Board of Education for a year starting in 2009 and has spent years on the board of trustees for Sacred Heart University in Connecticut.
She’s seen as a relative unknown in education circles, though she has expressed support for charter schools and school choice.
Elise Stefanik
Mr Trump has offered fierce ally Elise Stefanik the job as US ambassador to the UN.
The Republican, who represents New York in the House, has built up a national profile as an unwavering ally of the president-elect, shedding her early reputation as a moderate – having worked on Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign – to become the highest-ranking woman in the House Republican leadership.
Sky News’ US partner network NBC News previously reported she was being considered as Mr Trump’s pick for vice president.
Mr Trump reportedly described her as a “killer” but she has little experience in foreign policy and national security.
Tom Homan
Mr Trump announced Tom Homan will return to government to be in charge of US borders and the deportation of illegal immigrants.
The president-elect said on Truth Social “there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders” than his new “border czar”.
Mr Homan served as former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Mr Trump’s first term, and was an early backer of the president’s “zero tolerance” policy – which NBC News reported led to at least 5,500 families being separated at the southern border in 2018.
Earlier this year, he told a conservative conference he would “run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen”.
Mr Homan was also a contributor to Project 2025’s Mandate for Leadership book.
Mike Waltz
Trump loyalist Mike Waltz is the president-elect’s national security adviser – a powerful role that does not require confirmation from the Senate.
The 50-year-old, who served in the National Guard, will be responsible for briefing Mr Trump on key national security issues and coordinating with different agencies.
Having praised Mr Trump’s foreign policy views, Mr Waltz is a leading critic of China, and has spoken out about the country’s activity in the Asia-Pacific, claiming the US needs to be ready for a potential conflict in the region.
He is currently a congressman for Florida.
Alex Wong
Former State Department official Alex Wong is Mr Trump’s choice for deputy national security adviser.
Mr Wong served as deputy special representative for North Korea during the first Trump administration and “helped negotiate” the summit with Kim Jong Un, Mr Trump said.
Kristi Noem
South Dakota governor Kristi Noem has been picked to serve as the next homeland security secretary.
Once seen as a possible running mate for the president-elect, Ms Noem is currently serving her second four-year term as South Dakota’s governor, having risen to prominence after refusing to impose a state-wide mask order during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As head of homeland security, she will be responsible for everything from border protection and immigration to disaster response and the US Secret Service.
In a statement, Mr Trump said: “Kristi has been very strong on border security. She was the first governor to send National Guard soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden border crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times.”
He said Ms Noem would work closely with his “border czar”, Mr Homan.
Stephen Miller
Mr Trump has named Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, to be his deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser.
Mr Miller was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Mr Trump’s priority of mass deportations.
The 39-year-old previously served as a senior adviser during Mr Trump’s first administration.
Mr Miller has been a central figure in some of Mr Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families.
John Ratcliffe
Former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe has been picked by Mr Trump to serve as director of the
Central Intelligence Agency.
A former Texas congressman and prosecutor, Mr Ratcliffe is seen as a Trump loyalist who is likely to win Senate confirmation.
Tulsi Gabbard
Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress for Hawaii and presidential candidate, has been chosen to serve as director of national intelligence.
“As a former Candidate for the Democrat Presidential Nomination, she has broad support in both Parties – She is now a proud Republican!” Mr Trump said in a statement announcing her pick.
“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. Tulsi will make us all proud!”
She has been accused of amplifying Russian propaganda and would come to the job having never worked in the intelligence world or served on a congressional intelligence committee.
Two years ago it was claimed she echoed Russian propaganda by posting a video saying there were bio labs across Ukraine funded by the US.
Scott Bessent
Scott Bessent, a top fundraiser to the Trump campaign, is the president-elect’s pick for treasury secretary.
He will be tasked with implementing any tax cuts a Republican-controlled Congress may pursue.
Mr Bessent has advocated for tax reform and deregulation to spur more bank lending and energy production, as he argued in a recent opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal.
Karoline Leavitt
The chief spokesperson for the president-elect’s transition team, Karoline Leavitt, has been appointed as his White House press secretary.
At 27, she will be the youngest person to ever hold the title.
Ms Leavitt previously served as an assistant press secretary during the latter part of Mr Trump’s first term.
“I have the utmost confidence she will excel at the podium, and help deliver our message to the American People as we, Make America Great Again,” Mr Trump said in a statement.
The job of the White House press secretary is to promote the president’s activities without betraying the confidence of the boss.
Mr Trump had four press secretaries during his first term in office: Sarah Sanders, Stephanie Grisham, Kayleigh McEnany and Sean Spicer, who resigned after falsely claiming that Mr Trump’s inauguration attracted the largest audience ever.
Chris Wright
The oil and gas industry executive has been appointed as energy secretary, and is expected to be involved in the country’s expansion of nuclear power.
Mr Wright is also a staunch defender of fossil fuel and is the founder and chief executive of Liberty Energy, an oil field services firm based in Denver.
He is expected to support the president-elect’s plan to maximise the production of oil and gas.
Mr Wright has said in the past “there is no climate crisis” and, in 2019, drank fracking fluid on camera to demonstrate it was not dangerous.
He has no experience in government but has made regular appearances on Fox News.
Sean Duffy
The former reality TV star, and ex-Wisconsin representative, Sean Duffy has been selected to take up the role of transportation secretary.
Mr Duffy is a former lumberjack athlete and featured on several MTV shows from the late 1990s before serving as district attorney of Ashland County, Wisconsin, in 2002. He was elected to the House of Representatives as part of a tea party wave in 2010 and served on two committees in Congress.
He left office nine years later to spend more time with his family, saying at the time he needed time to care for his nine children, one of whom has a heart condition.
In 2023 he became co-host of a show on Fox Business, called the Bottom Line. He is also married to Fox News host, Rachel Campos-Duffy.
Confirming his nomination, Mr Trump said Mr Duffy would “maintain and rebuild our Nation’s Infrastructure” and “greatly elevate the Travel Experience for all Americans!”
Charles Kushner
Donald Trump is set to name Charles Kushner as the US ambassador to France.
The president-elect made the announcement in a Truth Social post, calling Mr Kushner “a tremendous business leader, philanthropist, & dealmaker”.
The real estate developer is the father of Mr Trump‘s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
Mr Kushner is the founder of Kushner Companies, a real estate firm. Jared Kushner is a former senior Trump adviser who is married to Trump’s eldest daughter, Ivanka.
Mr Trump pardoned Mr Kushner at the end of his last presidency. He had been sentenced to two years in prison in 2005 after admitting to tax evasion and making illegal campaign donations.
Massad Boulos
Mr Trump has also hired his other daughter’s father-in-law as a senior adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.
Massad Boulos is a Lebanese-American businessman, and the father of Tiffany Trump’s husband Michael Boulos.
During the campaign, Mr Boulos engaged with the large Arab American community in Michigan, which was angered by President Joe Biden’s backing of Israel’s military action in Gaza and Lebanon.
Mr Trump won the state by around 80,000 votes.
Mike Huckabee
The 69-year-old Baptist minister is Mr Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel.
The former governor of Arkansas has consistently rejected the idea of a Palestinian state in territories seized by Israel and has claimed “there really isn’t such a thing” as Palestinians.
Mr Huckabee ran to be the Republican presidential nominee in 2008 and 2016, and was previously a Fox News host. He is also the father of Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Mr Trump’s former press secretary.
Kimberly Guilfoyle
The 55-year-old former Fox News host is Trump’s pick to be the US ambassador to Greece.
She is believed to be engaged to Mr Trump’s eldest son Don Jr, though there has been tabloid speculation in the US that their relationship has ended.
“Her extensive experience and leadership in law, media, and politics along with her sharp intellect make her supremely qualified to represent the United States,” Mr. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
There have been reports that, in a 2015 Fox News broadcast, she called Greeks “freeloaders” who needed to be punished like an untrained pet after they challenged a third bailout deal from the country’s creditors during its financial crisis.
(c) Sky News 2025: Donald Trump hands out top jobs – here’s who will be in his cabinet
