America First: Here's who Donald Trump may tap for national security

Besides national security, Trump will be looking to build out the heads of financial regulatory agencies, which are expected to take a more light-handed approach than Biden's administratration

By Saleha Mohsin and Stephanie Lai

 

Donald Trump’s advisers are swiftly working to form a new administration, and the leaders he chooses to help install his “America First” agenda for foreign policy, regulation and law enforcement will provide clues to how deeply that policy goes.

A Republican Party more unified behind Trump than during his first presidency is on track to win total control of Washington. This week’s elections gave the GOP a majority in the Senate, and it’s closing in on control of the US House with a few seats left to be decided. 

 

Besides national security, Trump will be looking to build out the heads of financial regulatory agencies, which are expected to take a more light-handed approach than President Joe Biden’s administration. 

 

 

US foreign policy will be even more unpredictable than it was in his first term. Trump has given few details on his plans on many key issues. However, close aides have laid out some dramatic possible options, including a complete economic decoupling from China, deploying nearly 200,000 US marines to Asia and resuming the testing of nuclear weapons.

 

Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump-Vance transition, said “President-Elect Trump will begin making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration soon. Those decisions will be announced when they are made.”

 

As part of the process toward Trump’s inauguration in January, Biden will host him for a meeting at the White House on Wednesday. 

 

What follows is a list based on who has advised and promoted Trump during the campaign, and who people familiar with the matter say have been floated over the past few months.

 

Defense Secretary

The post involves overseeing the world’s largest military and the government’s biggest agency, with a budget of about $857 billion in 2023. The secretary advises the president on military deployment and defense alliances around the world and is also intimately linked to defense manufacturers and decisions on multi-billion dollar weapons programs like the the F-35 stealth fighter and the nuclear-submarine force.

 

Joni Ernst: The US senator from Iowa endorsed Trump after he dominated the GOP's Super Tuesday primaries in March. As an Army Reserve and National Guard veteran, she’s emerging as a candidate to oversee the Defense Department. 

Wesley Hunt: A US House member from Texas, Hunt comes from a military family, serving as an Army captain himself. He spoke at the Republican National Convention, serving as a key surrogate for Trump in Texas. 

Mike Pompeo: Previously CIA director and secretary of State during Trump’s first term, Pompeo may not pass the loyalty test that some of the president-elect’s aides are looking for. He did not endorse Trump until the summer, when he released a statement of support only a month after Trump clinched the party’s nomination in July. 

Mike Waltz: A Florida congressman, Green Beret and retired Army National Guard colonel, Waltz has been a frequent critic of the Biden administration’s national security policy, serving as a campaign surrogate for Trump this year. He’s currently a member of the House Armed Services Committee, and could also serve as a White House National Security advisor, which is not a Senate confirmed position. 

National Security Advisor 

The White House National Security advisor is also crucial for coordination of high-priority policies. Three names have emerged: Fred Fleitz of the Trump-loyal America First Policy Institute, Keith Kellogg, a retired Army general who worked in the first Trump administration and Waltz.

 

Attorney General

The attorney general is a cabinet position that oversees the Justice Department, which employs more than 115,000 people and includes agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

Mike Lee: The three-term Republican senator from Utah previously clerked for then-appellate court Judge Samuel Alito and served as an assistant US attorney. Lee refused to endorse Trump when he first ran for president in 2016 but later became an ally and supported his efforts to try to overturn the 2020 election results.

John Ratcliffe: He served as director of national intelligence in Trump’s first term, where he was viewed as a fierce loyalist to the president. Before that, he was a Republican congressman from Texas, where he was first elected in 2014. Ratcliffe was also an acting US attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. 

Mark Paoletta: An attorney, he served as general counsel for the Office of Management and Budget during Trump’s first term. Earlier, he served as chief counsel and assistant to Vice President Mike Pence. In the George H.W. Bush administration, Paoletta played a key role in confirming Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court and Neil Gorsuch during the first Trump administration. 

Ken Paxton: The Republican attorney general in Texas since 2015 is viewed as a key leader for ultra-conservative causes. Paxton spearheaded a lawsuit to try to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. He was impeached in 2023 by the Republican-controlled Texas House of Representatives for abusing his powers but was acquitted by the state’s Republican-led Senate. 

Eric Schmitt: The Republican senator from Missouri is in his first term. He previously served as Missouri’s attorney general, where he supported efforts by Trump’s allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Antitrust 

The Justice Department’s antitrust division is one of two government enforcement agencies charged with enforcing US competition law. The agency reviews mergers, polices anticompetitive conduct and enforces criminal law barring price-fixing and other forms of collusion. The Federal Trade Commission also enforces laws blocking anti-competitive mergers and other business conduct, though it doesn’t have criminal enforcement authority. The agency is led by a bipartisan, five-member body and also handles consumer protection regulations involving data breaches and false marketing practices. 

 

Andrew Ferguson: The other Republican FTC commissioner and former solicitor general of Virginia, Ferguson also served as a counsel to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.  

Melissa Holyoak: One of two Republican FTC commissioners, Holyoak is a former solicitor general of Utah. She led an antitrust lawsuit against Google Play’s app store.   

James Lloyd: Deputy attorney general for civil litigation in the Texas Attorney General’s office, Lloyd formerly headed the office’s antitrust division, which took point on an antitrust suit against Google focused on advertising technology. He previously worked at the White House during the first Trump administration.  

Mark Meador: A former Justice Department attorney, Meador served as a senior aide to Utah Republican Senator Mike Lee — the top GOP member on antitrust issues — for three years before moving to private practice, where he specializes in representing companies challenging the tech giants.  

Alex Okuliar: A partner at the law firm Morrison & Foerster, Okuliar previously served in the antitrust division during the first Trump administration, helping lead the government’s investigation into Google.  

Gail Slater:  An economic policy adviser to Vice President-elect JD Vance, Slater is involved in the transition and on the landing team for the FTC. She is also a leading candidate for a top antitrust position, such as FTC chair or DOJ antitrust chief. Slater worked in the White House during the first Trump administration and spent 10 years at the FTC. 

Todd Zywicki: A professor at George Mason University Law School and a prominent member of the Federalist Society, Zywicki is also an FTC alum, having served as the agency’s head of policy during the George W. Bush administration. 

 

Energy Secretary

The Energy Department has a disparate mission that includes helping to build the nation’s nuclear warheads, maintaining the strong emergency stockpile of oil that Trump has vowed to refill and studying subjects as varied as super computers and capturing carbon dioxide emissions. Under the first Trump administration the agency played a lead role in the incoming president’s efforts to revive US coal power, an effort he’s hinted he may attempt again.

 

Among the names floated for Energy secretary is Paul Dabbar, who served as undersecretary of science at the agency during the Trump administration. Mark Menezes, who served as the Energy Department’s No. 2 leader during the first term, is also mentioned.

 

Trump is also considering creating an energy czar position,  according to people familiar with the matter.

 

North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum’s name has come up as a potential leader in the role, though it’s not clear he is interested in the position, one of the people said.

 

The role, akin to the position of White House climate adviser created by the Biden administration, would coordinate agencies such as the Department of Interior, Environmental Protection Agency, and Energy Department.

 

Environmental Protection Agency administrator

The agency’s air, water, chemical and biofuel regulations touch nearly every sector of the US economy — from mammoth refineries to family farmers. Trump has vowed to speed the construction of gas-fired power plants and “terminate” what he calls an electric vehicle mandate run through the EPA, which under President Joe Biden imposed stringent regulations targeting planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions from the electric and transportation sectors. Elon Musk’s presence in Trump’s orbit may influence his strategy on EVs.

 

Among the contenders to oversee the EPA is Andrew Wheeler, former EPA administrator and deputy administrator under Trump, now a partner at Holland & Hart LLP, as well as Mandy Gunasekara, a former EPA chief of staff under Trump who is now a political consultant and co-founder of the bitcoin advocacy group Satoshi Action Fund. 

 

Interior Secretary

Trump has vowed to “drill, baby, drill” and “unleash” America’s energy. The Interior Department oversees energy development, grazing and other activities on some 500 million acres of public land, as well as US federal waters. A new Interior secretary under Trump would likely be tasked with ramping up the sale of oil and gas leases, including in the Gulf of Mexico, and could play a pivotal role in shaping the near-term future for offshore wind farms planned near US coasts.

 

Contenders include Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming and Katharine MacGregor, former deputy Interior secretary under Trump,  now vice president of environmental services with NextEra Energy Inc.