Trump’s Proposed Cabinet Is the Stuff of Nightmares

Donald Trump already has a handful of potential Cabinet picks in mind for his second administration—and they couldn’t be more alarming.

For White House chief of staff, the MAGA leader is reportedly considering either Susie Wiles, his top campaign adviser, or Brooke Rollins, president of the far-right America First Policy Institute, according to Trump allies that spoke with The Washington Post.

Other options for top positions include either billionaire hedge fund investor John Paulson or economic adviser Scott Bessent for Treasury secretary, and a toss-up between former Trump staffer Ric Grenell and Senator Marco Rubio for secretary of state.

But people who had previously worked alongside these candidates had their qualms about Trump’s choices.

Grenell, who was roundly criticized for his inexperience while serving as Trump’s acting director of national intelligence for a handful of months in 2020, is reportedly also in the running for other top intelligence positions, including heading the Central Intelligence Agency in order to unearth the secrets of the “deep state,” according to RawStory.

“Everyone knows he has no qualifications for this job,” Mark Groombridge, who worked closely with Grenell at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, told Foreign Policy upon Grenell’s ascension to the coveted Cabinet position in 2020. According to Groombridge, Grenell had “many talents,” but the job’s requirements—such as impartiality—“don’t comport with that skill set at all.”

Upon hearing the news that Grenell had a pathway toward becoming CIA director, at least one former FBI agent lamented to her followers on X: “God help us.”

Trump has also thrown around other names for potential roles in his administration, including suggesting that renowned anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. would have free rein over the nation’s health policies. World’s richest man Elon Musk has already agreed to head up a new department under the Trump admin—the Department of Government Efficiency, otherwise known as “DOGE”—which will focus on slashing government spending.

If Musk is to be believed, he’ll be looking to cut more than $2 trillion in federal spending—more than the country’s entire discretionary spending budget, which funds the military, national defense, as well as allocations for other federal agencies. The tech billionaire has also promised to launch a “complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.”

Trump’s campaign had reportedly scoured thousands of potential names but refused to disclose them ahead of the election due to Trump’s own superstitions. The picks largely come at the recommendation of the soon-to-be 47th president’s allies, who have claimed that incoming staffers would be given their positions based on their devotion to Trump’s vision for America—and to Trump himself, placing a premium on loyalty above all other skills, qualifications, or attributes.

In an interview with the Financial Times last month, Trump transition co-chair Howard Lutnick lamented that Trump’s last administration buckled under the weight of staff turnover due to disagreements in “vision,” promising that a second Trump term would focus on eradicating any internal hostility to the Republican’s plans.

Elon Musk’s daughter announced that she will be leaving the country after Donald Trump’s election night victory. Vivian Jenna Wilson, who is transgender, spoke out against President-elect Trump and her father, who played a pivotal role in helping him retake the White House. 

“I’ve thought this for a while, but yesterday confirmed it for me. I don’t see my future being in the United States,” Wilson said on Threads Wednesday evening. “Even if he’s only in office for 4 years, even if the anti-trans regulations magically don’t happen, the people who willingly voted this in are not going anywhere anytime soon.”

Wilson has notably been estranged from her father since 2022, and has accused him of transphobia, “cruelty,” and “serial” cheating. She said Musk would berate her for being more in touch with femininity as a child, urging her to make her voice deeper.

“I was in fourth grade. We went on this road trip that I didn’t know was actually just an advertisement for one of the cars—I don’t remember which one—and he was constantly yelling at me viciously because my voice was too high,” she told NBC in July. “It was cruel.” 

Musk’s comments toward his daughter only bolster these accusations. He has repeatedly deadnamed Wilson, meaning that he calls her by her male, birth name rather than recognizing the full and independent trans person that she is. In an interview with right-wing pseudo-intellectual Jordan Peterson, Musk stated that “I lost my son, essentially.… My son Xavier is dead, killed by the woke mind virus … so I vowed to destroy the woke mind virus after that.” Musk has also referred to his daughter as a “full communist” who thinks that “anyone rich is evil.” Musk is the richest man in the world. 

The billionaire has been Trump’s most enthusiastic surrogate this election cycle, following him from state to state and donating $119 million to Donald Trump’s America PAC.* He is sure to have a significant position, official or otherwise, in a Trump Cabinet chiefly concerned with demolishing transgender rights. America’s most powerful civilian is leading us toward a grim future that his oldest child knows all too well.   

“I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form,” Wilson told a court in 2022.

* This post previously misstated the amount donated.

Donald Trump won the presidential election less than 48 hours ago, and it seems that world leaders are already starting to openly mock him.  

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote a message on X Wednesday congratulating Trump for winning the presidential election. 

“Congratulations, President @realDonaldTrump. Ready to work together as we did for four years. With your convictions and mine. With respect and ambition. For more peace and prosperity,” Macron wrote. 

Apparently, MAGA wasn’t too thrilled about the “globalist deep state’s” use of one pesky little homonym. Maybe the swarms of online trolls can be comforted with the knowledge that “conviction” in French means belief, while a criminal conviction like the one Trump has 34 of is la condamnation.

At least, that’s what a spokesperson for Macron’s communications team pointed out in an email to HuffPost, saying that the president’s comment could not possibly refer to a legal conviction.  

Unfortunately for MAGA, and, well, all of us actually, we have a lot more of this kind of thing to look forward to. Trump’s ex–national security adviser has already warned just how easy it was for foreign leaders to get the best of the former president.

In light of Trump’s new status as president-elect, the judge in his hush-money case is expected to rule on whether to toss out his criminal conviction within the next week. Maybe then he’ll go back to having no convictions at all. 

Potential Trump Cabinet appointees are trying to get into the president-elect’s good graces in disturbing ways.

Mike Davis, a right-wing activist considered a leading candidate for Trump’s attorney general, on Wednesday threatened to (legally) “drag their dead political bodies through the streets” and burn them, referring to enemies of Trump and the right.

The violent threat came after Davis appeared to blame Democrats for the assassination attempts on Trump.

Davis, a former clerk for Justice Neil Gorsuch who calls himself “Trump’s viceroy,” is not likely to show any restraint in exercising retribution on behalf of the president. He’s already threatened special counsel Jack Smith, who oversaw the investigation and prosecution of Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election as well as his mishandling of classified documents, to “lawyer up.”

The fact that a legal troll like Davis is considered a front-runner to head the Justice Department reveals how many conservative lawyers Trump burned through during his first term and after his attempts to cling to power following his 2020 election loss. Many of these lawyers either want nothing to do with him now, or are facing disbarment and criminal charges for their efforts to help Trump. The lawyers who have stuck around are more MAGA true believers than top conservative legal minds.

These lawyers will be tasked with tearing down any legal obstacles to Trump’s agenda as well as that of his far-right allies. These include whatever checks on the presidency exist in law, and whatever regulations stand in the way of business leaders tied to conservatism. As Davis’s post demonstrates, they will also help to bring the full force of the DOJ against Trump’s enemies.

Even if Davis isn’t picked to be the next A.G., he will undoubtedly be a part of Trump’s legal army, which will have a big agenda. There’s already talk of a mass pardon of January 6 rioters, and other Trump allies have enemies lists of their own. A plan to purge the federal workforce of those who would oppose him has already been devised, too. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity, Trump faces few, if any, legal constraints, and we’re about to find out what still stands in his way.

The judge in Donald Trump’s hush-money case will consider whether to dismiss the president-elect’s criminal conviction next week, CNN reported Wednesday.

Judge Juan Merchan was scheduled to decide on Trump’s sentencing for 34 counts of falsifying business records on November 26, but Trump’s victory in Tuesday’s presidential election has cast a new pall over the proceedings. Now Merchan must decide whether to do away with the case altogether.

As one might expect, Trump’s attorneys are doing everything in their power to save their client from the Big House, on the way to the White House. Trump’s entire presidential campaign was premised on staying out of prison. Now he may finally get his wish.

Trump’s attorneys are expected to file a motion to dismiss the case within the next few days, arguing that Trump should be allowed the same legal protections as a sitting president and thus be immune to state prosecution.

This decision is expected to come ahead of November 12, when Merchan was set to weigh on whether to dismiss the case in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Trump v. United States, which found that the president could not be tried for most “official conduct.”

If Merchan somehow decides not to toss the case, then Trump’s sentencing hearing will proceed as scheduled.