President-elect Trump on Thursday announced that Susie Wiles, the 67-year-old political operative who led his presidential campaign, will be his White House chief of staff.
“Susie Wiles just helped me achieve one of the greatest political victories in American history, and was an integral part of both my 2016 and 2020 successful campaigns,” Trump said in a statement. “Susie is tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected. Susie will continue to work tirelessly to Make America Great Again. It is a well deserved honor to have Susie as the first-ever female Chief of Staff in United States history. I have no doubt that she will make our country proud.”
As Trump prepares for his return to the White House, gleeful Republicans and distraught Democrats are already looking ahead to how a second term might play out, with the expectation that Trump brings a far stronger understanding of how to use the levers of power in Washington, D.C., than he had in 2017 — and now faces far fewer limits on his power and fewer obstacles to enacting his agenda, with more carefully chosen allies and loyalists by his side.
“Trump returns to power as the head of a Republican Party that has been remade in his image over the last eight years and as the architect of a conservative-leaning judiciary that has helped to eliminate his legal perils,” Andy Sullivan of Reuters notes. “And he'll be able to claim a broad mandate from the public as only the second Republican presidential candidate since 1988 to win the popular vote.”
Well before Trump won a second term, his allies were preparing for a return to power, both in terms of policy and personnel. "We're looking at younger, more MAGA folks. More MAGA and less Republican than in the past," one unnamed donor told Reuters.
Trump’s transition team is being led by Howard Lutnick, the billionaire CEO of financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and Linda McMahon, Trump former head of the Small Business Administration also known as the co-founder of World Wrestling Entertainment. Trump allies are reportedly already jockeying for their preferred positions in the incoming administration, and the president-elect could announce some key appointments within days. With Republicans likely to control at least 53 seats in the Senate, Trump appears likely to face less friction in having key appointees approved.
A hedge fund manager for Treasury secretary? Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager and top Trump fundraiser, has served as an economic adviser to Trump, and the president-elect has praised him often on the campaign trail. Bessent is reportedly already searching for potential deputies, according to the Financial Times.
“A billionaire who made his fortune betting against the Japanese yen with liberal philanthropist George Soros, he has backed many of Trump’s economic policies, including imposing wide-ranging tariffs on imports,” the FT’s Demetri Sevastopulo and Colby Smith write. “Bessent has also backed unorthodox policies that economists and investors warn could increase volatility. Earlier this year, he floated the idea of nominating a ‘shadow’ chair of the Federal Reserve, who would not sit on the US central bank’s policymaking committee but would give guidance on the future direction of monetary policy. Such an unprecedented move would undermine the influence of Jay Powell, the current Fed chair.”
Another billionaire hedge fund manager, John Paulson, is reportedly also a possible contender for the Treasury job, as is Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade representative, whose name has also come up as a potential chief of staff.
Trump’s top diplomat: Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, who was among the finalists to be Trump’s vice president, is being mentioned as a possible secretary of state along with Tennessee Sen. Bill Hagerty, who was Trump’s ambassador to Japan from August 2017 to July 2019, and Richard Grenell, who was Trump’s ambassador to Germany, among other administration posts.
What roles will RFK Jr. and Elon Musk have? Those two high-profile supporters aren’t likely to get Cabinet posts, but will likely still have massive influence, with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. slated for a role overseeing healthcare programs and Musk expected to head a “government efficiency” panel tasked with slashing spending.
