Donald Trump, who forms a government guided by allegiance to his person, announced Thursday that he wanted to entrust the Department of Health to Robert F. Kennedy Jr, notoriously skeptical of vaccines.
He also intends to place two of his personal lawyers in key positions in the federal judiciary.
With his already sensational appointments to Justice and Defense, the president-elect will test the loyalty of Republican senators, called to confirm his choices.
For too long, Americans have been crushed by the food industry and pharmaceutical companies, which have engaged in deception and misinformation when it comes to public health, President-elect Donald Trump said on his social network TruthSocial.
Under its new boss, the Health Department will play a big role in ensuring that everyone is protected from dangerous chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives that have contributed to the “huge health crisis in this country,” the president-elect also wrote.
The nephew of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, a former environmental lawyer with no scientific training, has forged an unlikely alliance with the 78-year-old tribune since he gave up his bid to be an independent presidential candidate in August .
He has spread conspiracy theories, notably about COVID-19 vaccines, and he calls for an end to the addition of fluoride to running water. This measure intended to prevent cavities is considered by the medical community as one of the greatest health successes of the 20th century in the United States.
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Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who abandoned his electoral campaign for fear of harming Donald Trump’s re-election, notably campaigned alongside him in Warren, Michigan, on November 1, 2024.
Surrounded by faithful
There is no question for Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, of repeating what he described as the biggest mistake of his first term (2017-2021), in a podcast with the very influential Joe Rogan, namely choosing people who were not loyal.
Trump’s choices meet two criteria: loyalty and rupture, analyzes Todd Belt, professor of political science at George Washington University.
The president-elect, author of an unprecedented comeback with his resounding victory in the presidential election on November 5, had proven it with his choices for the intelligence directorate and for the Ministry of Justice.
Tulsi Gabbard, a Democratic Party defector known for her pro-Russia stances, is to become director of National Intelligence.
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Chosen to head national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard campaigned for Donald Trump.
Photo : Reuters / Jeenah Moon
She joined the conservative camp during a Donald Trump rally in October by describing the Republican, standing beside her with an approving smile, as a president who has the courage and strength to fight for peace.
Donald Trump also chose Matt Gaetz as Minister of Justice. This thunderous Trumpist, suspected of relations with an underage girl, led the overthrow of the Republican boss of the House of Representatives in the fall of 2022, sowing enormous political chaos.
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Donald Trump has chosen Matt Gaetz to head the Justice Department.
He must be assisted by two personal lawyers of the president-elect, Todd Blanche and Emil Bove, whose appointment Donald Trump announced on Thursday to deputy positions at the Department of Justice.
These two men defended the Republican in the case of hidden payments to a former porn actress which led to his criminal conviction, unprecedented for a former American president.
Novices in politics
Donald Trump, except for a whirlwind visit to Washington on Wednesday, has been holed up since his victory at his Florida residence. According to the press, he chooses his lieutenants by watching televised speeches by the candidates.
His first term had been a succession of spectacular dismissals. Several former advisers or secretaries subsequently publicly turned against him.
This time, the 45th and soon 47th President of the United States favors personalities who sometimes have no experience of the state apparatus but who support him without reservation, notably Elon Musk, who will head a commission to reduce public spending and deregulation whose legal contours remain unclear.
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Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will head a new government efficiency department. (Archive photo)
Several future secretaries or advisors are regular guests on conservatives’ favorite channel, Fox News.
Donald Trump, himself a former reality TV personality and avid television consumer, likes people who look good on screen. It’s very important to him, underlines Todd Belt.
To lead the Pentagon, Donald Trump chose a Fox News host, Pete Hegseth. The appointment of this former soldier with no high-level command experience was a huge surprise.
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Donald Trump has chosen Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense. (Archive photo)
Photo: (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
The future president, however, made a choice that contrasts with this quest for absolute loyalty: Florida senator Marco Rubio, with whom he has had conflicting relations in the past, must lead diplomacy.
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Donald Trump and Marco Rubio during a rally in Raleigh, North Carolina on November 4, 2024.
