Trump has chosen Stephen Miller as his Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy. Miller is considered to be the driving force within Trump circles for a harsh border policy. He has held an openly anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, nativist world view since at least his high school years, and it is probably not an exaggeration to describe him as a white supremacist. While a senior advisor to Trump, he was credited with developing and implementing both the Muslim travel ban and the child separation policy. He will no doubt push Trump to institute a range of policies to both stop immigration as completely as possible and to deport as many immigrants as possible. He will likely set the tone for the rest of the administration, including the shaping of priorities and influencing who has regular access to Trump.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio will be chosen for Secretary of State. Although Rubio’s foreign policy would not have been considered “America First” in the way Trump would define it, and although he in 2016 accurately described Trump as a “con-artist” deceiving working people, he is considered to be a hawk on China policy. Along with Rubio’s willingness to jump on the Trump bandwagon in recent years, his anti-China focus is important to Trump and his top influencers and leaders of the America-first movement, like Steve Bannon, who believe that China and the Chinese Communist Party are the primary threats to the U.S.-led capitalist world order.
For Secretary of Defense, Trump will nominate Pete Hegseth, a National Guard member who served in Iraq and Aghanistan. Although Hegseth’s service as a soldier gives him experience in the military, it is unheard of for someone with zero experience as a higher officer to be chosen for such a role. He has defended U.S. soldiers who were accused and on trial for war crimes and the killing of civilians, and advocated that Trump pardon at least three such soldiers, one of whom posed with the dead body of his victim. Loyalty and deference, plus his stated goal of making the U.S. military even more lethal and freer to enact violence on supposed enemies of the United States, are likely the key reasons he was chosen for this role.
Representative Mike Waltz of Florida is being chosen as his National Security Advisor. He is also considered a hawk on China, meaning that, like Rubio, he will push military spending and preparation toward conflict with China in the Pacific Ocean and Pacific Rim. He also claims to be a disruptor, and will likely try to shake up the Pentagon and more traditional ways of managing the sprawling U.S. military.
John Ratcliffe is his choice for Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He had been a Congressman from Texas and served as Director of National Intelligence during Trump’s first term. He is also considered a hawk on China and was a vocal supporter of Trump during his impeachment hearings in Congress. This combination, loyalist plus preparing for conflict with China, is the likely reason why he was chosen for CIA Director.
Representative Elise Stefanik of New York is being chosen as Ambassador to the United Nations. Like Rubio, Stefanik shifted from presenting herself as more moderate to becoming a vocal Trump supporter as the winds shifted in the Republican Party. She demonstrated an obnoxious shamelessness by leading hearings in the House to accuse university presidents of antisemitism for not cracking down more aggressively on anti-genocide protesters on campuses. She has been critical of the United Nations and will likely do everything possible to hamper or even severely damage its ability to function. She has been open about her support for Israel’s genocidal campaign, and her appointment all but ensures that Trump will help Israel violently “finish the job” in Palestine. She is also considered a hard-liner on China.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian who has long supported Zionist policies in the Middle East, will be appointed Ambassador to Israel. Like most evangelicals, who view Palestine and Jerusalem as a key part of their end-times prophecies, Huckabee completely supports Israel’s right to dominate and colonize. He once famously said, “there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian.” Enough said.
As Middle East Envoy, Trump is choosing Steve Witkoff, another multimillionaire real estate developer and Trump golfing partner who is, again, a staunch supporter of Zionism. He is specifically a strong supporter of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the corrupt leader leading the Zionist machine as it carries out its carnage.
Kristi Noem, former Governor of South Dakota, will be nominated for Secretary of Homeland Security. While she has little experience with the border and immigration, she has made it her key talking point, aligning herself completely with Trump on the issue. She even sent South Dakota National Guard troops to the southern border to make a show of being tough on immigration. She has also demonstrated the loyalty and deference that Trump clearly loves.
Tom Homan, who under Trump was the acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, will be appointed “Border Czar.” Like Miller, Homan seems to be a true believer in both forceful law enforcement and stopping all non-native born people from entering or even staying in the United States. He was first a police officer, then an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. Like Miller, he is seen as a key architect of separating families as a means of deterring immigration. At this summer’s Republican National Convention, Homan said, “As a guy who spent 34 years deporting illegal aliens, I got a message to the millions of illegal aliens that Joe Biden released in our country in violation of federal law: You better start packing now. You’re damn right. Cause you’re going home.” Enough said.
For Attorney General, Trump is nominating Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, one of his most ardent supporters in the House. Gaetz has supported Trump at rallies during his trial in New York, and has aggressively and obnoxiously defended all of Trump’s actions. He was one of the handful of Republican Congresspeople who fought with and then ousted House Speaker McCarthy, stalling activity in the House of Representatives for days at a time. He was under investigation himself for alleged sexual activity with underage girls, but was never formally charged by the Department of Justice.
Former Representative from New York Lee Zelden is being nominated for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. He, like other appointees, became more pro-Trump as they saw political benefit in doing so, and he has been a loyal defender of Trump over the past few years. But perhaps his most important qualification is his desire to stifle the EPA’s ability to in any way restrict business interests. He recently told Fox News that, “on day one and the first one hundred days, we have the opportunity to roll back regulations that are forcing businesses to be able to struggle.”
Finally, Trump has announced the creation of an entirely new body, at the urging of billionaire capitalist and spreader of misinformation Elon Musk, called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). As of this writing, Trump has said that it will operate outside of government, and plans to make Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a capitalist who made hundreds of millions in finance, mostly through creating and financing bio-technology companies. The goal of this body will be to slash government waste and inefficiency. Most likely, this will mean cutting jobs along with slashing budgets for things that capitalists don’t see as necessary to assist them in their pursuit of profit.
So far, with the exception of perhaps Elon Musk, Trump’s choices for top positions in his Cabinet and government are consistent with everything he has said and done for years. All are unprincipled, self-promoting underlings who have been or have opportunistically become bootlicking loyalists who will defer to and defend Trump even when that means denying reality or directly contradicting their initial criticisms. His foreign policy appointees will drive us closer to war with China, will be anti-United Nations, and will completely support the Zionist genocide. His domestic appointees will carry out his pledges to knock down all obstacles for business interests, making it easier for them to exploit their workers and pillage our planet. His immigration officials will carry out his pledges to enact what will likely be truly cruel, truly inhumane anti-immigration policies.
To a person, they are slimy, dishonest, calculating operatives who care only about their proximity to power, their egos, and their own wealth and political advancement. Collectively, they are already shaping up to be a cruel and damaging force for the people of the world.
Let’s get ready for what’s coming. And prepare to fight back.
