Donald Trump Drops Two Top Republicans From His New Cabinet: “I Will Not be Inviting..."

Former President Donald Trump won the presidential election on November 5th, defeating the Democratic Party candidate, Vice President Kamala Harris. The President-elect is ready to lead a new White House administration with fresh faces for the second term. According to The New York Times, Trump is not inviting two top MAGA supporters into his 2.0 governance, he excluded Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley, who were in his former government, from consideration. “I will not be inviting former Ambassador Nikki Haley, or former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, to join the Trump Administration, which is currently in formation,” Trump announced via his Truth Social.  

Pompeo and Haley were mostly disqualified because, during the previous term, they had supported U.S. assistance for Ukraine when Trump and many of his supporters had campaigned to reduce U.S. military engagement abroad and help allies. Despite her severe criticism of Trump during her run against him in the party primary, Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and former ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, supported him towards the end of the presidential race.

"I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations. I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years," she tweeted in response to Trump's announcement. 

As per Reuters, before declaring in April 2023 that he would not run for president, Pompeo, who previously held the position of director of the Central Intelligence Agency under Trump, had been referenced in some media sources as a potential defense secretary in the second term. In 2022, Pompeo had attacked Trump's management of confidential materials following the FBI raid on his Mar-a-Lago residence. “No one gets to keep classified information outside of a place classified information should be. That is certainly true,” he said back then. Thus, hurting his prospect of re-joining the former GOP nominee's new administration. 

Haley too pointed out the racist and misogynistic comments made by speakers at a Trump rally in October at Madison Square Garden as evidence that the campaign's tone was alienating women and minorities. “This bromance and this masculinity stuff, it borders on edgy to the point that it’s going to make women uncomfortable,” Haley said. Her absence from Trump's campaign run further created a rift with the former president. 

The former UN ambassador told CBS News' Face the Nation in September that she did not agree with Trump's policies. "I don't agree with Trump 100% of the time. I don't have to like him or agree with him 100% of the time to know that life for Americans would be better under the policies where we had strong immigration, where we had law and order, where we had an economy where we could look at opportunities, where we've got national security that is strong," she said. Thus making it clear that she never wanted to be part of his administration in the future.