Trump’s transition effort kicks into high gear
Summary
The president-elect’s team is putting together slides on prospective appointees and reviewing their TV interviews.WASHINGTON : Donald Trump’s transition team has assembled digital presentations for the president-elect that feature headshots of potential contenders for key cabinet positions, according to people familiar with the process. Aides are reviewing candidates’ television interviews to gauge whether they are adept at selling Trump’s agenda, some of the people said.
The efforts reflect the priorities of the incoming commander in chief, who expects that his cabinet secretaries look the part and keeps track of what allies and adversaries say about him on cable news. And it signals that the transition team that has been working in obscurity for months is kicking into high gear as Trump and his advisers shift from campaigning to governing.
Trump transition officials have had informal discussions with the president-elect, and they are planning to present a range of options for hires in the federal government he will soon lead, according to the people familiar with the process. The digital presentations, on a screen instead of in briefing books, will feature details of candidates’ résumés and are intended to give the president-elect an easy way to pore over his options, the people said.
The Republican’s decisive victory in Tuesday’s election sets off a roughly 10-week scramble to vet and sign off on top staffing picks before Inauguration Day, after which the soon-to-be GOP-controlled Senate can consider nominations. Susie Wiles, the Florida political strategist who helped run his campaign, will be his White House chief of staff and the first woman to hold the role in U.S. history.
Trump’s team met in Las Vegas this weekend with members of the Rockbridge Network, a conservative donor network co-founded by Vice President-elect JD Vance, according to people briefed on the meeting.
The meeting, during which the Trump team went over the campaign’s performance, comes as Trump’s advisers are raising money for his coming inauguration. The president over the weekend announced that New York real-estate developer Steve Witkoff and former Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R., Ga.) would co-chair his inaugural committee.
Next up, national security and economic positions are likely to be the focus, the people familiar with the process said.
Howard Lutnick, the billionaire chief executive of financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is in charge of personnel and plans to take point on presentations to the president-elect, according to those familiar with the matter. Trump, who is known to take looks into account when hiring, often praised members of his administration and people in his orbit as being straight out of “central casting." He also prefers to have pictures in front of him to remember those he has previously met.
Another person familiar with the matter said reviewing candidates performances’ during interviews on television is a precautionary measure to determine, if a candidate is hired, whether they can communicate clearly enough to go on television to represent the administration. This person said it is less about their looks.
The transition is working with several outside firms that are conducting more traditional vetting of candidates’ backgrounds. The firms are vetting hundreds of contenders for senior jobs, people with knowledge of the process said.
Representatives for the Trump transition didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Trump’s advisers said the president-elect has had informal discussions with friends and allies about the people he likes for key jobs. But Trump has yet to decide, for instance, who he wants to become the next Treasury secretary, a crucial nominee who will implement his economic vision.
People familiar with his thinking say his top choices for the role are veteran investors Scott Bessent and John Paulson, as well as Sen. Bill Hagerty, (R., Tenn.). Several Trump allies said they think Bessent has the inside track, but caution that Trump is known for being unpredictable. Trump met with Bessent at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, according to people briefed on the meeting. Bessent declined to comment.
Several of the candidates for Treasury secretary and other cabinet positions have appeared on television before and after Election Day, including Bessent, Hagerty and former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Jay Clayton, who is angling for a job in the administration.
Lutnick, the transition co-chair, has also been discussed by some of Trump’s advisers as a candidate for Treasury secretary or another prominent economic job. Hagerty is a contender for several roles in the administration, including secretary of state.
Hagerty declined to say how he might serve in a Trump administration when asked Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation." “In whatever role I hold going forward, it’s going to be advancing the positions that President Trump has articulated, that the American people overwhelmingly supported, and I’ll do that in whatever role necessary," he said.
Another potential choice to lead the Treasury Department is Trump’s former U.S. Trade Representative Bob Lighthizer. The Financial Times reported Friday that Trump asked Lighthizer, who oversaw the tariffs the then-president slapped on Chinese imports, to return to his role as the administration’s trade chief. A person familiar with the matter said Lighthizer has talked to Trump about an administration role, but hasn’t been formally offered anything.
Bessent has landed in pole position to become Treasury secretary in part because he is allied with economic advisers to the president-elect, including former Trump National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow. “Scott [is] my first choice for Treasury. I’m a big fan," Kudlow said in an email.
Leading contenders for other jobs are also coming into focus. Linda McMahon, the former head of the Small Business Administration and a co-chair of Trump’s transition, is seen by many close to the president-elect as the front-runner to lead the Commerce Department. Meanwhile, Trump declared on social media Saturday night that two officials from his first term, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, wouldn’t be landing jobs in his second administration.
Among Pompeo’s opponents was Donald Trump Jr., according to people familiar with the matter. The president’s son has said he would block people from joining the administration who aren’t aligned ideologically with his father.
Also on social media, the president-elect demanded that the next Republican leader of the Senate agree to allow him to push through at least some nominees without going through a vote. Such a move would give more power to the White House to get around congressional opposition.
Trump, his advisers said, relishes the process of picking his staff—and the attention it brings.
Shortly after he won the 2016 election, Trump launched into lengthy transition deliberations at Trump Tower in New York. For weeks, potential candidates for jobs arrived in Midtown Manhattan and were escorted to the building’s elevators past waiting reporters, creating a reality-show-like spectacle.
At least so far, Trump’s deliberations are happening behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, his private Florida club.
Republicans are jockeying behind the scenes for influence, with competing ideological factions making the case for and against key candidates. The behind-the-scenes posturing has spilled out into the open. Corey Lewandowski, a longtime Trump adviser, asked his followers on X this weekend who they want to see Trump choose for secretary of state.
“Reply back with your pick and share WHY," he wrote.
Alex Leary, Vivian Salama and Gordon Lubold contributed to this article.