US President-elect Donald Trump‘s future team is taking shape. Tech billionaire Elon Musk is supposed to cut government spending with a specially created authority. Fox News presenter Pete Hegseth will be the new defense minister. Trump also made the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security – and thus one of the leading figures in his planned deportation operations in the country.
Musk was one of Trump’s most active supporters during the election campaign and donated the equivalent of around 113 million euros. He expressed interest in reducing government spending months ago – and Trump responded. Together with former Republican presidential candidate and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, he is taking over the leadership of a specially created agency that is not part of the government but is supposed to work with the White House.
Trump praised both in a written statement as “wonderful” Americans who should help cut bureaucracy, eliminate unnecessary regulations, cut “wasteful spending” and restructure federal agencies. Musk said in the statement that this would send “shock waves through the system.”
The television man Hegseth is to become the new defense minister in times of war. Hegseth is “tough, smart” and a true supporter of the “America First” policy, said Trump. With him at the helm, “America’s enemies have been warned.” Hegseth is currently moderating the show “Fox & Friends Weekend” on the right-wing conservative broadcaster Fox News. During the election campaign, Trump liked to tune in to the morning show to promote his issues.
Trump has also chosen an eager supporter, Noem, to head the Department of Homeland Security. She was “very committed to border security” and was the first governor to send National Guard soldiers to “help Texas combat the Biden border crisis,” Trump said. Noem will work closely with the “border czar” Tom Homan.
The 52-year-old Noem shot her 14-month-old dog Cricket herself because she didn’t train to be a hunting dog. Noem later argued that her actions showed that she was not afraid to make tough decisions.
Trump has made mass deportations of illegal migrants a priority of his term in office. The Department of Homeland Security is responsible, among other things, for immigration and border protection.
