President-elect Donald Trump has filled most of the major slots in his cabinet and has a team ready to hit the ground running from day-one; provided, of course, that there is Senate confirmation. Though his initial Attorney General choice Matt Gaetz has now dropped out for want of support among Republican members, the rest will not have much of a problem, except perhaps Robert Kennedy Junior as Health Secretary, Tulsi Gabbard as Intelligence head and Pete Hegseth as Defence Secretary. The latter has lingering sexual assault allegations, and is inexperience to lead such a pivotal department.
Trump has been praised for selecting hedge fund billionaire Scott Bessent as his Treasury Secretary. A low-profile business leader, he, like Trump, believes in tariffs but more as a negotiating instrument with other nations. Trump’s sudden announcement that on his first day in office he will impose a 25 per cent rise in tariffs for all goods imported from both Canada and Mexico, will raise prices of essential vegetables and oil imported from these two countries. This may be a negotiating tactics ahead of taking office. But tariffs on tomatoes, avocados and a host of other vegetables imported from Mexico will hurt the common man the most. But Bessant is also keen on cutting down government spending and ensure that budgetary deficit is gradually reduced. This has won him praise from conservative as well as liberal economists.
Scott Bessant is also gay and he and his husband have two children. The Treasury Secretary candidate worked for nearly a decade with billionaire George Soros, someone disliked by Conservative Republicans and right-wing establishments world over.
Many of Trump’s picks for cabinet positions have little experience of the work they have to oversee. Linda McMahon, his nominee to head Education is the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). She is a business woman and a camp follower.
Trump has got his people in place much faster than Joe Biden did four years ago. It is also a huge improvement from his previous term when Trump’s unexpected victory over Hillary Clinton in 2016 resulted in much infighting within the transition team and a day-to-day public display of the chaos within Trump’s inner circle. This time, however, the transition team has worked both swiftly and smoothly as Trump is very clear about the kind of people he wants in his team. His choice is a reflection of his own views and beliefs he holds dear.
The litmus test for Trump is loyalty. The president elect is ready to overlook many faults if a person has proved his loyalty to him, especially those who had backed him publicly on court cases and his claims of a stolen election on television and public forums. Most of his list of candidates have personally stood up and backed Trump at a time when he most needed support. Matt Gaetz was Trump's first choice simply because he echoed Trump’s views that the Justice department has been weaponised by Joe Biden and the Democrats. He travelled to New York to be with Trump when he was convicted of falsifying records to cover a payment made to buy a porn star’s silence. Gaetz had to finally bow out when it was evident that some of Republican moderates in the Senate were unwilling to endorse him because of his sexual escapades with girls as young as 17 years. For Trump, these are minor vices and was part of the macho man he so admired. Trump’s own legal problems makes him much more tolerant towards others facing legal scrutiny.
Bad Boy Instincts
Axios reported from unnamed close associates of Trump’s inner circle that his election gains have fuelled his "bad boy instincts".
"He knows and intuitively understands that men voted for him in huge numbers in part because they reject the notion that all male behavior is toxic," the insider said. "He wants to drive home the message that he is discarding the old norms and he is setting the new ones," the report says.
Trump has an old fashioned view of men. Not for him the modern heterosexual male, polite affable and not afraid to show his emotions and cry. The president-elect admires successful and powerful men who are tough, live life king size and are a hit with women. In his opinion, only such strong men can take on hard tasks like fighting crime or illegal immigration on the border. Tom Homan, who is Trump’s pick for "border Czar’,’ a new post that does not need Senate confirmation, has already announced that states that don’t cooperate with the Trump administration's decision to deport immigrants will not get access to federal funds. Whether this will really happen is not known, but statements like these are exactly what Trump likes.
Winners All
Trump loves to win, thinks he is a great business negotiator and is drawn to successful people who can get things done. Their means to achieving success is often overlooked by Trump. As a businessman, Trump has often played fast and loose with legalities.
Elon Musk may not be in his cabinet, but is in charge of a new government department on downsizing government. Musk was not earlier a Trump supporter, but over the course of the election campaign he threw himself into the ring with gusto. The President-elect is confident that Musk, together with Republican businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, will be able to cut down government spending as well as force out the huge numbers of federal employees. When Musk took over twitter, now renamed X, he threw out as many as 70 per cent of the employees. Trump would like to repeat that feat.
Many wonder how long the bromance between Trump and Elon Musk will last, considering that both mean have huge egos and flashing tempers.
