President-elect Donald J. Trump is assembling the cast of characters who will serve in his cabinet and in other senior positions during his second term. The cabinet always comprises at least 16 positions — the vice president and the heads of the 15 executive departments — and presidents have discretion to elevate other officials, like the White House chief of staff, to the cabinet level. This page will be updated as new announcements are made.
Mr. Ratcliffe is a former Texas congressman who served as director of national intelligence during Mr. Trump’s first term.
A former congressman from Long Island who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2022, Mr. Zeldin is an avid supporter of Mr. Trump who voted against certifying the results of the 2020 election. During Mr. Zeldin’s tenure in the House of Representatives, he voted against clean water legislation at least a dozen times and clean air legislation at least half a dozen times, according to a scorecard from the League of Conservation Voters.
Ms. Stefanik, who represents an upstate New York district in the House and is a member of the Republican leadership in the chamber, has been a vocal supporter of Mr. Trump. She emerged as a key ally during Mr. Trump’s first impeachment proceeding. She has minimal experience in foreign policy and national security.
No confirmation required
4 named
Mr. Vance, a former venture capitalist in Silicon Valley, is a relative political newcomer. He rose to fame in 2016 after the publication of “Hillbilly Elegy,” his best-selling memoir about his experiences growing up in Appalachia. He previously criticized Mr. Trump as “reprehensible,” but won Mr. Trump’s backing when he ran successfully for Senate in 2022 by embracing Mr. Trump’s politics and his lies that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Ms. Wiles, the political tactician who managed Mr. Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, has worked in Republican campaigns and administrations, at both the federal and state levels, since the Reagan era. She was the only campaign manager to survive an entire campaign working for Mr. Trump, and will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
Mr. Homan, who served as a senior immigration official in Mr. Trump’s first administration, will manage Mr. Trump’s campaign promise of widespread deportations of undocumented immigrants and the tightening of measures that allow some of them to stay in the country legally. He has decades of experience in immigration enforcement.
A former Green Beret and current Florida congressman, Mr. Waltz is widely regarded on Capitol Hill as a hawk on China and Iran. He served multiple combat tours in Afghanistan and opposed President Biden’s withdrawal of troops from the country.
Transition officials
2 named
Mr. Lutnick is the chairman and chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services firm. A longtime registered Democrat, he has said that the party moved away from his interests and that he is now a Republican. He donated $1 million to Mr. Trump’s inauguration in 2017 and appeared on an episode of “The Apprentice” while Mr. Trump was the show’s host. He has no known experience in the federal government.
Ms. McMahon is a major donor to Mr. Trump, a onetime Senate candidate from Connecticut and a former executive of a professional wrestling empire that she founded with her husband. She served in Mr. Trump’s first cabinet as the head of the Small Business Administration.
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