Photo = Reuters Former President Donald Trump, who was elected as the 47th President of the United States, is speeding up the formation of the next cabinet. There are still 10 weeks left until the inauguration, but as much preparation has already been made, the plan is to complete the formation of the next government early and implement the policies pledged immediately from the first day of the inauguration.
On the 11th (local time), the New York Times (NYT) reported that Senator Marco Rubio (Florida) is a strong candidate for the position of Secretary of State, who will oversee U.S. foreign policy. Also, major American media such as the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the next U.S. government It was reported that U.S. Representative Mike Waltz (Florida) has been nominated for the position of national security advisor, a key position. CNN reported that South Dakota Governor Kristi Norm was selected for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security.
On this day, former President Trump announced through TruthSocial that former Representative Lee Zeldin (New York) would be the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Representative Elise Stefanik (New York) would be the next UN Ambassador. Including the previously appointed White House chief of staff nominee Suzy Wiles, deputy chief of staff nominee Stephen Miller, and border policy director (border czar) Tom Hogan, the owner of eight positions was decided in just five days after the election.
○Florida, anti-China loyalists
The color that is most strongly evident in the Trump administration’s recent appointments is anti-China sentiment. Rep. Rubio is famous for being a public hardliner. He served on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and was involved in most of the legislation imposing sanctions on China. In 2019, he asked the Treasury Department to investigate the national security implications of Chinese social media app TikTok’s acquisition of Musical.ly and issued a report on how COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China. Senator Marco Rubio (left) and Representative Mike Walz (right). / Each member’s homepage Representative Walz is no easy feat. Walz, who led the China Special Committee formed mainly by Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, argued that the United States should boycott the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and is a person who has raised issues about oppression in China, including human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uyghur region.
Both of them have Florida as their constituency. Analysis suggests that this is not unrelated to the fact that the transition team has been operating near former President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida.
In addition, the ‘Florida faction’ has a clear tendency to gain popularity. Chief of Staff nominee Wiles is from New Jersey but mainly worked in Florida, and former Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer also moved to Florida and communicated closely with former President Trump. Ailey Cannon, a U.S. District Court judge for the Southern District of Florida who is being considered for the position of Attorney General, is also from Miami, Florida, and Senator Rick Scott, who is being pushed by former President Trump and Tesla founder Elon Musk to be the next Republican Senate leader, also has Florida as his constituency. . However, it is unclear whether Rep. Scott will be elected as his support base is weaker than that of Rep. John Thune (South Dakota) and Rep. John Cornyn (Texas) who are currently competing for the position of floor leader.
○ “You should get rid of your own color and follow Trump.”
South Dakota Governor Kristi Norm (left), a strong candidate for the position of Secretary of Homeland Security, and Representative Elise Stefanik (right), who has been nominated as Ambassador to the United Nations. However, the only keyword that runs through all of these greetings is loyalty. After winning the 2016 presidential election, former President Trump sought reconciliation with the mainstream Republican Party and appointed then-Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Reince Priebus as his chief of staff, but after a conflict, Priebus was kicked out. He had conflicts with most Republican figures, including former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and former Secretary of Defense James Mattis. There is a general perception that former Chief of Staff John Kelly went there to prevent Trump from going on a rampage. Former President Trump plans not to assert his own beliefs this time, but to fill his cabinet only with loyalists who will not betray him.
What is noticeable is that heavyweight figures who took on the role of loyalists in the first Trump administration and implemented Trump’s core agenda were also excluded. These include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Former President Trump directly told TruthSocial that “Pompeo will not be in the next cabinet,” and former Secretary Mnuchin told the media that he would “not join the cabinet but remain in a role of advising the Treasury Secretary.”
In relation to this, WSJ analyzed that in order to make Vice President-elect JD Vance, who is being pushed by former President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., the successor to Trump, “Pompeo and others who were obstacles were excluded.”
Washington = Correspondent Lee Sang-eun selee@hankyung.com
