Trump’s second term: Who has the president-elect selected for his cabinet, advisers?

President-elect Donald Trump continues to craft his cabinet and panel of advisers for his second term in the White House.

Trump has asked Rep. Mike Waltz from Florida to be the National Security Adviser.

The president-elect posted to Truth Social, confirming the reports that cited unnamed sources.

Rep. Mike Waltz - National Security Adviser

Waltz is a Green Beret and retired Colonel in the National Guard who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East and Africa and will be the first Green Beret to be the National Security Adviser.

He was born in Boynton Beach, Florida, and was raised in Jacksonville by a single mother. After graduating from Virginia Military Institute, he served 27 years in the Army and the National Guard. He was awarded four Bronze Stars, two of which were for valor.

CNN reported it will be Waltz’s job to deal with international issues such as the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Hamas conflicts. He served in President George W. Bush’s White House as a policy staffer, according to Waltz’s official biography. He also worked at the Pentagon as a defense policy director for Secretaries of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.

CNN speculated that Waltz will be similar to former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Lee Zeldin - EPA

Trump nominated Lee Zeldin as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Zeldin is a former member of the House of Representatives from New York, but according to The Associated Press does not have experience in environmental issues. He is also a former military intelligence officer, USA Today reported. He ran for governor in 2022 but was beaten by Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Zeldin wrote on X after the announcement, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.”

Trump said Zeldin has a “very strong legal background” and “a true fighter for America First policies,” USA Today reported.

“He will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet,” Trump added.

Stephen Miller - Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

Trump named Stephen Miller as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy on Monday.

Miller was one of Trump’s senior advisers during his first administration but pushed for more restrictive immigration policies CNN, which was the first to report Miller’s nomination, said.

The AP confirmed Miller’s new role while Vice President-elect J.D. Vance posted congratulations to Miller on X.

Miller pushed for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants during the first administration, saying that it would be a 10-fold increase, or more than one million deportations every year, CNN reported.

When Trump’s first term ended, Miller became president of America First Legal, a conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union, PBS said. Before he worked for the Trump administration, Miller had been a senior aide for several lawmakers and Congressional committees, the America First Legal said in Miller’s biography.

Miller’s family was considered liberal, but he became conservative after he read the National Rifle Association former CEO Wayne LaPierre’s “Guns, Crimes and Freedom” book. Miller’s family evolved into conservative views, according to a US News and World Report 2016 article.

Rep. Elise Stefanik - U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

Trump named Rep. Elise Stefanik (R - N.Y.) to the role of U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Stefanik, 40, is the House Republican Conference Chair and at one point was discussed as Trump’s running mate until he chose Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, The AP reported.

The New York Times reported Stefanik accepted the nomination.

She is from upstate New York and graduated from Harvard. She worked with the Domestic Policy Council and the chief of staff’s office during Pres. George W. Bush’s administration.

Stefanik was only 30 when she was elected to Congress in 2014, making her the youngest woman lawmaker elected. She is also the youngest woman to be a leader in the House of Representatives, the AP reported. When she first took office, she was considered a moderate but morphed into a MAGA ally for the former president, endorsing him before he had launched his reelection bid and frequently campaigned for him.

The Congresswoman defended Trump during both of his impeachment trials and criminal indictments. She went as far as to file an ethics complaint against the judge who oversaw his civil fraud case, the AP reported.

Tom Homan - Border Czar

Trump named his former acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Tom Homan, as his border czar. The president-elect made the announcement on Truth Social.

The position does not require Senate confirmation, the AP reported.

Trump campaigned on deporting people who are in the country illegally.

“It’s going to be a well-targeted, planned operation conducted by the men of ICE. The men and women of ICE do this daily. They’re good at it,” Homan said, the AP reported. “When we go out there, we’re going to know who we’re looking for. We most likely know where they’re going to be, and it’s going to be done in a humane manner.”

Homan was named ICE acting director in 2017. Before that, he was a police officer, Border Patrol agent and a special agent with the Immigration and Naturalization Service, The New York Times reported.

Susie Wiles - Chief of Staff

Trump named Florida political strategist Susie Wiles as White House Chief of Staff days after he secured his reelection bid.

She is the first woman to serve in the role.

The daughter of NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall, Wiles worked in the Washington, D.C. office of Rep. Jack Kemp (R - NY) in the 1970s. She also worked on President Ronald Reagan’s campaign and was a scheduler at the White House, The AP reported.

She worked for two Jacksonville Mayors, Rep. Tillie Flower and eventually helped Gov. Rick Scott and Gov. Ron DeSantis win their elections.

Wiles led Trump’s campaign in Florida in 2016 and left DeSantis’ campaign for Trump when the two faced off in this year’s campaign.

Trump actually hired her for his campaign in 2022 after the events of Jan. 6 and his loss in 2020, changing his previous campaign into what Politico called “a particularly professional operation, despite Trump’s own tendencies to embrace chaos.” She told Trump to back off the claims of losing the 2020 election and to encourage voting by mail.

The AP reported that Trump used Wiles’ and others’ knowledge of DeSantis to push him out of the race. She rarely posted to social media but wrote “Bye, bye” to respond to a post highlighting DeSantis’ campaign clearing his schedule before he dropped out of the race.

Wiles stayed behind the scenes even refusing to speak when Trump declared victory on Wednesday, the AP reported.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called Wiles a “strong, intelligent woman” when Trump announced her selection as chief of staff, after billionaire Mark Cuban said that the president-elect didn’t have “strong intelligent women” surrounding him before Election Day.

She said she has seen a different side of the president-elect.

“I will tell you this: The Donald Trump that I have come to know does not behave that way, and the lens that I look at him through, I don’t see any of that. I see strengths, I see smarts, I see a work ethic that is unparalleled,” Wiles told the Tampa Bay Times in 2016. “I blanch sometimes. But, again, it’s not the Donald Trump that I have come to know.”

Politico said Wiles will be the most powerful woman in Washington.

She will be tasked to be Trump’s right-hand person, a gatekeeper of sorts who determines who the president will speak with and when. She will also help make sure his plans are followed while also balancing politics and policy. Trump said Wiles is “tough, smart, innovative, and is universally admired and respected,” Politico reported.

Who makes up the cabinet?

The White House said that currently there are 15 executive departments whose heads are among the members of the cabinet as well as the Chief of Staff, the Vice President and other advisors.

The positions are as follows and includes the person Trump has nominated for the position, or only in the case of the Vice President, won the election. This will be updated as he names his advisors.

1. Vice President - J.D. Vance
2. Chief of Staff - Susie Wiles
3. Secretary of Agriculture
4. Secretary of Commerce
5. Secretary of Defense
6. Secretary of Education
7. Secretary of Energy
8. Secretary of Health and Human Services
9. Secretary of Homeland Security
10. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
11. Secretary of the Interior
12. Secretary of Labor
13. Secretary of State
14. Secretary of Transportation
15. Secretary of the Treasury
16. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
17. Attorney General

The following positions were also in President Joe Biden’s cabinet. Trump may or may not have similar cabinet-level positions in his second administration.

1. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations - Rep. Elise Stefanik
2. Director of National Intelligence
3. U.S. Trade Representative
4. Environmental Protection Agency administrator - Lee Zeldin
5. Office of Management and Budget director
6. Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers
7. Office of Science and Technology Policy director
8. Small Business Administration administrator
9. Central Intelligence Agency director

Other key positions Trump has filled in his new administration:

1. Border Czar - Thomas Homan
2. National Security Adviser - Rep. Mike Waltz
3. Ambassador to Israel - former Gov. Mike Huckabee

During Trump’s first administration, he included cabinet-level positions for the EPA, OMB, Trade Representative, CIA, National Intelligence and the SBA.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 8

Donald Trump cabinet nominees President-elect Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at the Palm Beach Convention Center on November 06, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Trump has started to name those who he would like to see in his cabinet and other advisors for his second term. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

©2024 Cox Media Group