Trump’s Unconventional Picks All Share Key Quality: Loyalty
(Bloomberg) -- President-elect Donald Trump shocked Washington with his decision to nominate ultra-loyalist Matt Gaetz as his attorney general. The move rammed home what’s become evident since he began announcing his nominations: Subservience to Trump is the main qualification for a job.
Most Read from Bloomberg
The announcement of Gaetz’s nomination on Wednesday capped a precedent-shattering 24 hours in which he also selected Tulsi Gabbard, a Ukraine aid skeptic and a former Democrat turned fierce MAGA adherent, to run national intelligence, as well as Pete Hegseth, a combat vet and Fox News host, as secretary of defense.
Those choices showed how the president-elect is eager to tap the most loyal bastions of his party to carry out his agenda — and potentially clear out or pursue his opponents — in the Justice Department, the intelligence community and in the military. The big test will be whether Republicans in the Senate are willing to play along.
Subscribe to the Bloomberg Daybreak podcast on Apple, Spotify or anywhere you listen.
His other picks — such as Marco Rubio for secretary of state and John Ratcliffe as CIA director — were seen as more conventional, even mainsteam. But those choices also reflected how the president is placing more emphasis on loyalty, “anti-woke” sensibilities and the ability to play the role on TV than any cohesive or unified approach to some of the most pressing policy challenges facing his administration.
“So far, Trump’s national security appointments seem to be driven by three things — loyalty, the culture war and what Trump calls ‘the look,’” said Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The latest picks — and Gaetz in particular — set up a potential clash with Republicans in the Senate. Earlier in the day, Republicans voted to approve South Dakota Senator John Thune as majority leader, rebuffing Elon Musk and Trump’s preferred choice and suggesting they have a limited appetite for appealing solely to Trump’s “Make America Great Again” wing.
Gaetz has been plagued by scandals, including an investigation by the Justice Department that he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl in exchange for money. He denied the allegations and was notified last year that he wouldn’t face charges. Gaetz was also targeted by the House ethics panel.
“I’m certain there will be a lot of questions,” Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine said when asked about Gaetz’s potential nomination hearing. Asked if she thought Gaetz was a serious candidate, Alaska Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski responded, “Not as far as I’m concerned.” Both voted to remove Trump from office after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
The Senate has given a lot less deference to presidential cabinet nominations in recent decades, but rarely votes them down outright. Instead, presidents simply withdraw the nomination in the face of Senate opposition. Trump withdrew three in his first presidency, although he’s pushing this time for the wide use of temporary “recess appointments” if needed.
The last cabinet nomination the Senate rejected outright was former Senator John Tower, President George H.W. Bush’s choice for defense secretary, in 1989. An FBI investigation had uncovered a “pattern of alcohol abuse.”
Gaetz got all the attention Wednesday afternoon but unease among Democrats and even some Republicans had been settling in already. On Tuesday, Trump announced that billionaire Musk and former Republican presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy would head a new project to clear away government inefficiencies — even though it has no formal mandate and no budget.
And both parties are still bracing for Trump’s plans for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has indicated he’s been promised a role overseeing health policy and may seek to weaken vaccine mandates.
Noem, Stefanik
Then there are the other nominees Trump has already put forward.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, a long-time Trump supporter who shares his hardline views on immigration, has been tapped for Homeland Security secretary. His choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, former Representative Lee Zeldin, has little environmental experience but has been a firm Trump supporter.
Rubio originally clashed with Trump when both sought the Republican nomination in 2016. But he became a staunch Trump supporter in the Senate and helped lead outreach to Hispanics during this year’s election campaign. He’s gone as far as comparing the various court cases against Trump to Cuban show trials.
Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to be ambassador to the United Nations, was one of his first national security announcements — and reflects not just loyalty to Trump but her penchant for going after cultural elites.
The congresswoman backed Trump’s agenda in the House of Representatives and gained a national profile when she went viral for her aggressive, insistent questioning of the heads of Harvard and other major universities about antisemitism after campus protests erupted over the Israel-Hamas war.
His choice for White House national security advisor, Representative Mike Waltz of Florida, is a combat-decorated former Green Beret who introduced an act in Congress to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies in the military and halt the teaching of critical race theory. His choice for defense secretary, Hegseth, comes directly from Fox News — and has also supported efforts to counter such “woke” policies in the military.
“There is no ideological consistency and there never has been,” said Christopher Preble, who’s director of the Stimson Center’s Reimagining US Grand Strategy program and who wrote a book about Trump’s foreign policy. “There are moments when Donald Trump opposes the use of force, because he thinks it is good for him personally and politically. There are other times that he favors it.”
The candidates for foreign policy jobs have also all professed strong support for Israel. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, picked by Trump to be ambassador to Israel, was immediately praised by Israelis as a great friend.
But again, loyalty was crucial. Huckabee has a company that helps sell two children’s books extolling the virtues of Trump: a kids’ guide to his policies, which praises low taxes, and one that features him alongside Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Trump’s pick for White House Middle East envoy, Steven Witkoff, is a real estate investor with little Mideast experience but plays golf and is close friends with Trump.
Even some of Trump’s most ardent backers in the Senate struggled to process the latest announcements. Among them was Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn, who was asked by reporters about the selection of Gaetz and Gabbard.
“I’m trying to absorb all this,” he told reporters.
--With assistance from Gregory Korte, Steven T. Dennis and Daniel Flatley.
Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek
A Guide to Trump’s Tariff Plans: Expect High Drama and a Bumpy Rollout
North Dakota Wants Your Carbon, But Not Your Climate Science
For Europe, the Next US President Is a Shock—and a Catalyst for Change
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
