Trump Staffs Up For Second Presidential Term
1 week ago
As advisers and allies of Republican President-elect Donald Trump search for personnel to staff his coming administration, one quality is absolutely paramount: unquestioning loyalty.
During his 2017-2021 term, Trump butted heads with key appointees, particularly those in the intelligence, national security and law enforcement communities, several of whom later recounted slow-walking or trying to talk Trump out of his most controversial plans.
Without people around him who are inclined to push back, the president-elect may find it easier to bend longstanding norms in pursuit of his conservative agenda, both Trump supporters and opponents say.
On Thursday, Trump named his campaign chief, Susie Wiles, as White House chief of staff. And on Saturday, Trump said he would not invite back his former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, nor his former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, both of whom have criticized elements of Trump's conduct and policy, even as they tried to make amends in recent months.
Just days before the Nov. 5 election, one of Trump's former chiefs of staff, John Kelly, called him a "fascist" in an interview. One of his national security advisers, John Bolton, has repeatedly described Trump as unintelligent. And his second defense secretary, Mark Esper, recounted talking Trump out of bombing drug cartels in Mexico in his 2022 autobiography.
Trump has in return blasted those former cabinet-level officials, going so far as to suggest that his second joint chiefs of staff chairman, Mark Milley, should have been executed for treason. This time around, Trump has said only true believers in him - and in his "Make America Great Again" movement - will be allowed into government.
"President Trump has publicly said that he's learned from his first term," Mike Davis, a conservative attorney who frequently talks to the president-elect, told Reuters. Davis, who helped Trump get his Supreme Court picks through the Senate as a high-ranking Capitol Hill aide, has drawn frequent praise from Trump's most conservative allies.
"Political appointees require both competency and loyalty. You can't have just one or the other. You need both."
On X last week, Davis put it bluntly: "Before asking me for help, I am going to ask you to provide me specific and concrete evidence of your loyalty to Trump," he wrote. "If you cannot provide a lot of that, stop asking me."
During his 2017-2021 term, Trump butted heads with key appointees, particularly those in the intelligence, national security and law enforcement communities, several of whom later recounted slow-walking or trying to talk Trump out of his most controversial plans.
Without people around him who are inclined to push back, the president-elect may find it easier to bend longstanding norms in pursuit of his conservative agenda, both Trump supporters and opponents say.
On Thursday, Trump named his campaign chief, Susie Wiles, as White House chief of staff. And on Saturday, Trump said he would not invite back his former U.N. ambassador, Nikki Haley, nor his former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, both of whom have criticized elements of Trump's conduct and policy, even as they tried to make amends in recent months.
Just days before the Nov. 5 election, one of Trump's former chiefs of staff, John Kelly, called him a "fascist" in an interview. One of his national security advisers, John Bolton, has repeatedly described Trump as unintelligent. And his second defense secretary, Mark Esper, recounted talking Trump out of bombing drug cartels in Mexico in his 2022 autobiography.
Trump has in return blasted those former cabinet-level officials, going so far as to suggest that his second joint chiefs of staff chairman, Mark Milley, should have been executed for treason. This time around, Trump has said only true believers in him - and in his "Make America Great Again" movement - will be allowed into government.
"President Trump has publicly said that he's learned from his first term," Mike Davis, a conservative attorney who frequently talks to the president-elect, told Reuters. Davis, who helped Trump get his Supreme Court picks through the Senate as a high-ranking Capitol Hill aide, has drawn frequent praise from Trump's most conservative allies.
"Political appointees require both competency and loyalty. You can't have just one or the other. You need both."
On X last week, Davis put it bluntly: "Before asking me for help, I am going to ask you to provide me specific and concrete evidence of your loyalty to Trump," he wrote. "If you cannot provide a lot of that, stop asking me."
