Donald Trump will begin the process of choosing a cabinet and selecting other high-ranking administration officials in the coming weeks following his presidential election victory. Here are the top contenders for some of the key posts overseeing defense, intelligence, diplomacy, trade, immigration and economic policymaking. Some are in contention for a range of posts.
Potential Treasury Secretary
Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co, he is considered a strong candidate for treasury secretary, though it is far from clear that he would actually take the job. Dimon is an opponent of what he describes as unnecessarily burdensome regulations that have been imposed by the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies.
He would likely push for a broad rollback of those regulations should he join the administration. The New York Times reported in October that Dimon privately
preferred Harris for the presidency, and that he viewed then-President Trump’s actions around the Jan. 6 attack as close to disqualifying for public office.
Scott Bessent is a key economic adviser to Trump, is widely seen as a top candidate for treasury secretary. A longtime hedge fund investor who taught at Yale University for several years, Bessent has a warm relationship with the president-elect.
While Bessent has long favored the laissez-faire policies that were popular in the pre-Trump Republican Party, he has also praised Trump’s use of tariffs as a negotiating tool. He has praised the president-elect’s economic philosophy, which rests on a skepticism of both regulations and international trade.
Potential National Security Adviser
Richard Grenell is among Trump’s closest foreign policy advisers. During the president-elect’s first four-year term, he served as acting director of national intelligence and U.S. ambassador to Germany. When Trump met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in September, Grenell sat in on the private meeting.
Grenell’s private dealings with foreign leaders and often-caustic personality have made him the center of multiple controversies, a fact that might make another Senate
confirmation process a challenge. However, he is considered a top contender for national security adviser, which does not require Senate confirmation, and a Senate-confirmed post is not out of the question.
Among the policies he has advocated for is setting up an autonomous zone in eastern Ukraine to end the war there, a position Kyiv considers unacceptable.
Potential Secretary of State
Robert O’Brien, Trump’s fourth and final national security adviser during his first term, maintains a close relationship with Trump, and the two often speak on national security matters.
He is likely in the running for secretary of state or other top foreign policy and national security posts. He has maintained close contacts with foreign leaders since Trump left office, having met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel in May.
His views are somewhat more hawkish than some of Trump’s advisers. He has, for instance, been more supportive of military aid for Ukraine than many of his Republican contemporaries, and he is a proponent of banning TikTok in the United States.
Bill Hagerty, senator from Tennessee who worked on Trump’s 2016 transition effort, is considered a top contender for secretary of state. He has maintained solid relations with
essentially all factions of the Republican Party, and could likely be confirmed with ease in the Senate.
He served as U.S. ambassador to Japan in the first Trump administration at a time when the president touted his warm relationship with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Hagerty’s policies are broadly in line with those of Trump. Earlier in the year, he voted against a major military aid package for Ukraine.
Potential Defense Secretary
Mike Waltz, a former Army Green Beret who is currently a U.S. congressman from Florida, Waltz has established himself as one of the foremost China hawks in the House of Representatives. Among the various China-related bills he has co-sponsored are measures
designed to lessen U.S. reliance on critical minerals mined in China.
Waltz is on speaking terms with Trump and is widely considered to be a serious contender for secretary of defense.
Mike Pompeo who served as CIA director and secretary of state during Trump’s first term, is considered a top contender for secretary of defense but could land in various slots involving national security, intelligence or diplomacy.
While he flirted with a Republican primary challenge against Trump, Pompeo never pulled the trigger, and he is now back on friendly terms with the president-elect after a period of
awkwardness. He stands out as possibly the fiercest defender of Ukraine among Trump’s close allies, a position that puts him at odds with most high-ranking figures in his potential boss’s camp.
Potential National Security Posts
Keith Kellogg is a retired lieutenant general who served as chief of staff to the National Security Council under Trump, Kellogg has Trump’s ear and is a contender for several national security-related positions, though it is unclear precisely where he would land.
During the campaign, he presented Trump with a plan to end the war in Ukraine, which involved forcing both parties to the negotiating table and ruling out NATO membership for Ukraine for the foreseeable future, among other measures.
Potential Homeland Security Secretary
Tom Homan, who served as the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for a year and a half during Trump’s first term, was frequently praised by Trump Homan during the campaign, and Homan often hit the trail to rally supporters.
During Trump’s first term, Homan was a leading advocate of the administration’s controversial child separation policy, during which children of immigrants who had entered the country illegally were detained separately from their parents.
Potential Attorney General
John Ratcliffe, a former congressman and prosecutor who served as director of national intelligence during Trump’s last year in office, Ratcliffe is seen as a potential attorney general, though he could also take a separate national security or intelligence position.
The president-elect’s allies view Ratcliffe as a hardcore Trump loyalist who could likely win Senate confirmation. Still, during his time as director of national intelligence, Ratcliffe often contradicted the assessments of career civil servants, drawing criticism from Democrats who said he politicized the role.
Potential Chief of Staff
Susie Wiles, one of Trump’s two co-campaign managers, is seen as the odds-on favorite to be Trump’s White House chief of staff. While the specifics of her political views are somewhat unclear, she is credited with running a successful and efficient campaign.
Supporters hope she would instill a sense of order and discipline that was often lacking during Trump’s first term, when he cycled through a number of chiefs of staff.
Brooke Rollins is the former acting director of Trump’s Domestic Policy Council, Rollins is also a contender for chief of staff. Trump has a close personal relationship with Rollins, and often compliments her in private settings.
She was generally considered one of Trump’s more moderate advisers while in office. Among other policies she supported during Trump’s first term were criminal justice reforms that lessened prison sentences for some relatively minor offenses.
Kash Patel is a former Republican House staffer who served in various high-ranking staff roles in the defense and intelligence communities during Trump’s first term, Patel has frequently appeared on the campaign trail to rally support for the candidate.
Some Trump allies would like to see Patel, considered the ultimate Trump loyalist, appointed CIA director. Any position requiring Senate confirmation may be a challenge, however. Patel has leaned into controversy throughout his career.
In an interview with Trump ally Steve Bannon last year, he promised to “come after” politicians and journalists perceived to be enemies of the president-elect. During Trump’s first term, Patel drew animosity from some more experienced national security
officials, who saw him as volatile and too eager to please the then-president.
With Reuters inputs
