President-elect Donald Trump has begun building his leadership team, with appointments being announced for Cabinet positions and other cabinet-level advisory posts throughout his administration.
Trump’s advisory council, which could include newly created positions, will help him shape the policies and decisions that define his administration. Most of his appointments will need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Here is a list of announcements Trump has made. It does not include people considered likely to be appointed or those who have been unofficially tapped but not announced.
Chief of staff: Susie Wiles
Veteran Republican political operative Susie Wiles was Trump’s 2024 senior campaign adviser and will be the first woman from either party to hold the chief of staff position in the White House.
Wiles was Trump’s chief strategist in Florida for his 2016 campaign, Florida co-chair of Trump’s 2020 campaign and led his Save America PAC in 2021. ABC identified her, quoting anonymous sources, as the unnamed “PAC director”in a federal indictment to whom Trump was accused of showing classified documents in 2021.
A graduate of the University of Maryland, Wiles served in the Reagan White House and on his 1980 campaign. She was director of operations for Dan Quayle’s vice presidential campaign in 1988 and Florida adviser to former U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney during his 2012 presidential race She also helped get Florida Gov. Rick DeSantis and U.S. Sen. Rick Scott elected.
Born in New Jersey, Wiles is the daughter of late NFL player and sportscaster Pat Summerall. She has two children.
National security adviser: Mike Waltz
A retired colonel in the U.S. National Guard, U.S. Rep. Mike Waltz, R-Fla., was elected to Congress in 2018 and is chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on military logistics. He is also on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
In recent months, Waltz has warned that the U.S. is not prepared for conflict with China and questioned U.S. policy to support Ukraine in its war with Russia.
A Florida native and business owner, Waltz served as defense policy director for defense secretaries Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld in previous administrations. He has also been a vocal critic of diversity, equity and inclusion policies or practices in the military.
His wife, Julia Nesheiwat, served under Trump as his national security adviser from 2020-21.
Border czar: Tom Homan
Tom Homan, Trump’s former acting director of Immigration, Customs and Enforcement, will lead the massive deportation effort Trump has promised to start when he takes office.
Homan, an immigration hard-liner, former cop and Border Patrol agent, was President Barack Obama’s executive associate director of enforcement and removal operations for ICE while the agency carried out a record number of deportations.
Homan oversaw ICE operations during Trump’s family separation policy for undocumented immigrants in 2017 and 2018. Trump halted the operation under criticism and did not ask the U.S. Senate to confirm Homan’s permanent appointment to lead ICE. Homan retired from the agency in 2018.
Homan is a Fox News contributor and was a Heritage Foundation visiting fellow in February 2022, contributing to the foundation’s Project 2025.
U.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is a staunch supporter of Israel and has served on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
She has criticized U.S. funding for the United Nations after an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to expel Israel from the U.N.
A New York native, Stefanik graduated from Harvard University in 2006 and served as a White House domestic policy adviser under President George W. Bush, later becoming a senior aide to a Bush chief of staff.
A top campaign adviser to Paul Ryan during his vice presidential bid, Stefanik won her congressional seat in 2014, flipping it to the Republican Party. She became the first woman to serve her district and was the youngest woman – at age 30 – elected to Congress.
She serves as the House Republican Conference Chair, making her the highest-ranking woman in House GOP leadership.
EPA administrator: Lee Zeldin
Former U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican from New York, left Congress in 2022 after an unsuccessful campaign for New York mayor. He remains active in policy, notably as part of the America First Policy Initiative, a think tank focused on Trump’s agenda.
Zeldin has said he aims to balance deregulation with maintaining high environmental standards as head of the Environmental Protection Agency. His first priority will be to roll back President Joe Biden’s environmental regulations, which he believes harm businesses and drive them overseas.
In Congress, he opposed many Biden initiatives but notably voted against slashing EPA funding in 2020.
A New York native, Zeldin graduated from SUNY Albany and earned a law degree from Albany Law School. He served in the U.S. Army and as a state legislator. Zeldin and his wife, Diana, have identical twin daughters.
CIA director: John Ratcliffe
Former U.S. Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas was director of national intelligence for Trump in 2020 and was also briefly considered by political observers as a contender for U.S. attorney general.
Ratcliffe represented a North Texas district in Congress for five years and is a staunch supporter and friend of Trump. As an attorney, he publicly questioned the pursuit of Trump on classified documents charges after a federal special counsel declined to pursue similar charges against Biden.
Ratcliffe also served as mayor of Heath, Texas, from 2004-12 and was acting United States attorney for the Eastern District of Texas from May 2007 to April 2008.
A native of the Chicago area, Ratcliffe graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1987 and earned a law degree from Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1989 before going into private practice.
He and his wife, Michele, have two daughters.
Secretary of defense: Pete Hegseth
Hegseth is a U.S. Army veteran, author, co-host of Fox News Channel’s Fox & Friends Weekend and a host of the channel’s Fox Nation news show. Hegseth was CEO for Concerned Veterans for America, which is funded by conservative megadonor brothers Charles and David Koch, and Vets for Freedom.
He ran an unsuccessful race for the Minnesota Senate in 2012 and became close to Trump during the president-elect’s first term in office – occasionally advising him and reportedly being considered for other Cabinet posts, including secretary of state and head of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
As leader of the U.S. Defense Department, Hegseth is expected to implement Trump’s “Peace Through Strength” approach to national defense, according to Trump’s announcement.
Hegseth graduated from Princeton University in 2003 and has a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. He has six children and stepchildren.
Department of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
Billionaire tech mogul and Trump megadonor Elon Musk and former GOP political rival Vivek Ramaswamy will share the helm of an independent commission Trump plans to create that will focus on slashing government waste.
The new commission, with the acronym DOGE, is a nod to “dogecoin” cryptocurrency that can be used online, including on Musk’s social media platform, X, and to buy merchandise from Tesla, which Musk also owns.
Musk was one of Trump’s largest donors and a frequent companion on the campaign trail, using his X.com bullhorn to bash Trump’s opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, almost daily during the campaign.
Ramaswamy is a biotech entrepreneur who ran for the GOP presidential nomination against Trump last year but dropped out in January and became a vocal Trump supporter. A staunch conservative and critic of liberal social and environmental policies, Ramaswamy founded Roivant Sciences, a pharmaceutical company, in 2014.
The Ohio native is the son of Indian immigrants and has degrees from Harvard University and Yale University.
Attorney general: Matt Gaetz
U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, is a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the House Judiciary Committee in his fourth term in Congress. An attorney and the host of the podcast “Firebrand,” Gaetz is a staunch Trump supporter.
In 2020, the Justice Department – which Gaetz will lead if the U.S. Senate confirms him – launched an investigation into alleged sex trafficking and sexual misconduct involving Gaetz. The DOJ concluded its investigation without filing charges.
In 2023, the House Ethics Committee began investigating the allegations but took no action on several of them, including reports of bribery, misuse of campaign funds or sharing explicit photos on the U.S. House floor. Earlier this summer, the committee said in a statement that it is still reviewing other allegations that Gaetz he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, extended special privileges to friends, and tried to cover up his actions, according to the statement.
Born in Hollywood, Florida, Gaetz graduated from Florida State University and received a law degree from William & Mary Law School.
Secretary of state: Marco Rubio
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, was on the short list to be selected Trump’s running mate before JD Vance won the vice presidential nod.
Rubio traded insults with Trump during the crowded 2016 GOP primary, winning Minnesota, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico – but losing to Trump in his own state. Early in his political career, Rubio was the Florida House speaker. He is in his third term in the U.S. Senate and has become a vocal Trump ally.
As vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, Rubio has focused much of his public comments on threats overseas and recently said China, Iran, North Korea and Russia “share one goal” to weaken America.
A native of Miami and the son of Cuban immigrants, Rubio had dreams of becoming an NFL player, but a college football injury diverted him to law school. He graduated from the University of Florida and the University of Miami. He and his wife, Jeanette Dousdebes, have four children.
