Inside Trump’s latest flurry of controversial Cabinet picks
CNN
In the days after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, allies described his transition effort as far more disciplined than his first post-victory period in 2016.
In the days after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, allies described his transition effort as far more disciplined than his first post-victory period in 2016. Then, a 24-hour stretch — that started with Trump’s selection of Fox News host Pete Hegseth as defense secretary on Tuesday night, included tapping former Hawaii Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence on Wednesday, and culminated with his selection of bomb-throwing Florida congressman Matt Gaetz as attorney general later that day — turned that perception on its head. Their selections — which followed Trump finding the other candidates he’d interviewed boring, and searching for firebrands — represented the ascendancy of the president-elect’s “Make America Great Again” orbit over the more traditional Republican establishment. And they underscored the quality the president-elect values most as he prepares to return to the Oval Office: Loyalty. Trump’s latest round of Cabinet announcements stunned much of Washington. But the hair-raising nature of Trump’s picks was intended to be a feature, not a bug, say people briefed by the team. “People being in a state of shock was the goal, that’s exactly what the MAGA gang wants,” said one Trump ally, requesting anonymity to discuss private deliberations with the president-elect’s team. “They want people who are a total challenge to the system.”
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