Incoming US President Donald Trump has named a rogues’ gallery of loyalists, billionaires and racists to staff his new administration. They show his intent to impose mass deportations, racism and tax cuts for the rich following his inauguration in January.
This is a response to Trump’s first term in office when he was often restrained by establishment officials such as his former Homeland Security head General John Kelly, who these days calls Trump a “fascist”. This time around, Trump wants an administration that will toe the line.
Trump has nominated a series of hardline anti-immigration fanatics to lead his border policies and implement plans to deploy the military to mass deport the estimated 11 million undocumented migrants within the US.
His “Border Czar” Tom Homan is a former Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer who earlier this year stated, “If Trump comes back in January … I will run the biggest deportation force this country has ever seen.”
He will helped by Homeland Security pick Kristi Noem, who, as Governor of South Dakota, sent hundreds of National Guard troops to the Mexican border over 3000 kilometres away, declaring it a “national security crisis”. She has also promoted claims she shot dead her family’s 14-month-old dog because it was “untrainable”.
Trump’s Homeland Security Adviser will be Stephen Miller, who has a history of extreme racism. In Trump’s first term, Miller allegedly suggested that drones should be used to explode and sink asylum-seeker boats, and leaked emails have exposed him promoting the white supremacist “great replacement” conspiracy theory.
His pick for Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, is a former Fox News host with neo-Nazi symbols tattooed on his chest. He has decried war crimes regulations as rules “written for us to lose” and wants to change the name of the Defence Department to the “War Department”. He has also pledged to over-turn “woke” rules in the US Army, such as those allowing women in combat roles.
Trump’s other foreign policy picks, such as senior Republican Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State, are in lock-step with Trump’s plans to much more aggressively confront China.
Similarly, Trump has flagged Mike Waltz as National Security Adviser. Waltz is a former colonel in the National Guard who preaches preparing for war with China by sending more arms to Taiwan and by upgrading the US military.
His UN ambassador Elise Stefanik is an outspoken critic of the United Nations, suggesting that US funds to the body ought to be cut for its lack of support for Israel’s genocide.
For the Department of Health and Human Services, Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy, an anti-vaxxer who has claimed that “no vaccine is effective” and who believes they cause autism in children.
Super-rich
Trump has also tied his administration to the billionaire class, with many of his closest advisers and donors being billionaire members of his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida.
The richest person alive, Elon Musk, is set to head a new Department of Governmental Efficiency, alongside fellow billionaire and biotech investor Vivek Ramaswamy. The acronym DOGE is both a stale internet meme as well as Musk’s preferred cryptocurrency. Musk wants to use this role to slash a third of federal spending through sweeping layoffs in the public sector.
For the Treasury, Trump has flagged Scott Bessent, a Wall Street billionaire who wants Trump to impose austerity and deregulate the economy. His Energy Secretary nominee is Chris Wright, the founder of oil company Liberty Energy who last year claimed, “There is no climate crisis and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either.”
Proposed Commerce Secretary, Howard Lutnick, is CEO of elite investment bank Cantor Fitzgerald and will co-chair Trump’s transition team alongside Linda McMahon, a former executive of World Wrestling Entertainment, who is also flagged for the Secretary of Education role.
US stock markets jumped after Trump’s election, anticipating sweeping tax cuts and deregulation, and feeling assured that Trump’s presidency will be a “friendly environment” for corporate profits.
Trump’s picks show the horrific priorities and potential for widespread upheaval of his incoming presidency. He has promised to impose a 60 per cent tariff on China and a 10-20 per cent tariff on all other countries.
With Republican control of Congress and a party bent towards his will, Trump’s entrance into office in January is likely to mean the rapid introduction of his priorities.
More than ever, the left in the US will need to build broad resistance on the streets and in the workplaces.
By Maeve Larkins
