Who Will Be In Donald Trump’s Cabinet? Ben Carson Is Out And Rudy Giuliani Wants In
President-elect Donald Trump has the world’s attention right now. One of the two positions Trump has already filled in his cabinet is Stephen Bannon as “chief strategist and senior counselor.” Several media reports have suggested that picking Bannon was a controversial move that should make Washington’s establishment squirm, but Trump also made a conventional choice by appointing Reince Priebus as his chief of staff. Trump has two appointments in his cabinet down and about 4,000 to go.
The biggest question in Washington, D.C., is, who will be filling the remaining slots? The names of Trump’s top surrogates are being floated in the media, but no one is more public about wanting a top position in Trump’s cabinet than Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani appeared at the Wall Street Journal‘s CEO council in Washington, D.C., on Monday and mentioned he’d make a great secretary of state in Trump’s cabinet. Giuliani’s public remarks were somewhat of a surprise after a report on Sunday mentioned Giuliani and John Bolton as the two finalists for the position in Trump’s administration.
“John would be a good choice,” Giuliani said. When asked if there’d be a better man for the job, Giuliani quipped “Maybe me.”
Giuliani publicly angles for Secy. of State gig… #morningjoe panel: What’s he doing? https://t.co/6ImvptSCYk
— Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) November 15, 2016
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, the next chief foreign affairs adviser will be the former New York mayor or the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Newt Gingrich also recently appeared on Fox News and said Giuliani will get the job in Trump’s cabinet if he wants it.
Just like Giuliani, Ben Carson was another surrogate always willing to defend Trump throughout the campaign. Carson’s name has been floated for Secretary of Education or Secretary of Health and Human Services, but on Tuesday his adviser told Politico and The Hill that Carson’s not interested in working in Trump’s cabinet.
“Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency,” Armstrong Williams said. “The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”
The retired neurosurgeon, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, and Trump were the only Republicans who ran for president with zero experience in government.
The next announcement of who will be in Trump’s cabinet is expected to include the name of the White House press secretary. Multiple reports have confirmed that conservative radio host Laura Ingraham is a finalist for the job. Ingraham currently runs the conservative news site LifeZette, is a Fox News contributor, and is also the host of the Laura Ingraham Show. She told Tucker Carlson on Fox News that she’d be honored to be a senior White House official in Trump’s cabinet.
“I’m at the point where if my country needs me, and if I could do something to actually advance the Trump agenda, which is stuff I’ve written about now for 15 years with trade and immigration and just renewing America, I’d have to seriously consider that,” Ingraham said.
Press-bashing radio host Laura Ingraham to be W.H. press secretary? She says “we’ll see…” https://t.co/DO62k55XvP https://t.co/Bssv8uAM6F
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 15, 2016
Another name on the short list of who will be the next White House press secretary is David Martosko, the U.S. political editor for the Daily Mail. Trump’s contentious relationship with the news media could be repaired with someone like Martosko in Trump’s cabinet with an established career as a political reporter and relationships with political journalists built over the years.
Whoever Trump picks to work in his cabinet will be a great way to determine how the president-elect plans to govern while also hinting at his legislative priorities. Since only Bannon and Priebus have been selected, it’s too early to get a real sense of what Trump plans to do with his power. His first two cabinet picks signal Trump plans to balance out his administration with insiders and outsiders, and that makes predicting who will serve in his cabinet nearly impossible.
[Featured Image by Sara D. Davis/Getty Images]
