Golf buddies and former rivals on Trump’s top team

Donald Trump’s first administration was marked by spats, policy battles and rapid staff turnover. This time, he’s expected to prioritise one quality above all: loyalty.

Donald Trump with his campaign manager Susie Wiles during an election night event at the West Palm Beach Convention Centre. Picture: AFP.

In a rare admission of fault, Donald Trump told Joe Rogan, the podcast host, that the “biggest mistake” of his first term had been hiring “bad people, or disloyal people”.

Despite having appointed distinguished officers such as John Kelly, a retired general, business figures such as Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil boss, and veterans of Republican administrations such as John Bolton, his national security adviser, Trump’s first administration was marked by spats, policy battles and rapid staff turnover.

This time, Trump is expected to prioritise one quality above all: loyalty. Trump has signalled that he will assemble a kitchen cabinet of informal advisers. But many of those who were instrumental in getting him elected have their own priorities.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Picture: AFP.

Robert F Kennedy Jr

The scion of America’s most famous political dynasty boosted the campaign when he ended his independent run and endorsed Trump in August. Trump has said that the reward for the antivaxer, who has promoted debunked claims that childhood vaccines cause autism, will be a “big role”. Trump has said he plans to let Kennedy “go wild on health”, food supply and reproductive rights. Kennedy says that Trump has promised him control of public health agencies and has laid out plans to remove fluoride from drinking water. Donald Trump JrTrump’s eldest son is the most politically active of the president-elect’s children and is thought to have ambitions that go beyond this second term. “Don Jr”, 46, has emerged as a trusted adviser with unrivalled influence in the Maga movement. He was instrumental in picking JD Vance as a running-mate and in approaching Kennedy.

Senior adviser Stephen Miller. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

Stephen Miller

One of Trump’s most influential aides and the architect of the so-called Muslim ban and the family separation policy at the border during Trump’s first term, Stephen Miller will be tasked with implementing the hardline immigration strategy planned. Kevin Roberts and the Heritage FoundationProject 2025, a blueprint for a second Trump term and one of the campaign’s controversies, was drawn up by the Heritage Foundation think tank. It proposed expanding the powers of the presidency, abolishing the Department of Education, further restricting abortion, deporting undocumented migrants and banning pornography. Trump disavowed it, but Kevin Roberts, the think tank’s president, speaks to him frequently and is confident he will dismantle “deep state” bureaucracy.

Brooke Rollins, president and CEO of AFPI. Picture: Getty Images.

Brooke Rollins

A head of the Domestic Policy Council in the first term, Brooke Rollins, 52, is president of the America First Policy Institute, which has prepared executive orders for Trump to sign – including a ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood, the healthcare group, and an expansion of oil and gas drilling. She is a possible presidential chief of staff. Miriam AdelsonMiriam Adelson, widow of the casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, gave dollars 100 million to Trump’s campaign. She holds US and Israeli citizenship and may be influential on the Middle East. She and her husband were pivotal in the decision to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Her office denied that she had urged Trump to endorse Israel’s annexation of the West Bank.

US ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell. Picture: AFP.

Richard Grenell

Trump’s ambassador to Germany and then special envoy for the Serbia and Kosovo peace talks, Richard Grenell may be rewarded with the secretary of state post. Marco Rubio, the Florida senator, and Doug Burgum, the North Dakota governor, are also said to be in contention. They face competition from Mike Pompeo, who held the role before, from Robert O’Brien, Trump’s fourth national security adviser, from Bill Hagerty, a senator from Tennessee (and golf partner of Trump), and from Tom Cotton, an Arkansas senator also on the shortlist for defence.

Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles

The chief architects of Trump’s victory are in line for promotion to the West Wing. Susie Wiles, a political consultant, is touted as a possible White House chief of staff. Chris LaCivita is in the frame for a senior post.

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

What about the real cabinet?

Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase chief executive, is a possible candidate for Treasury secretary, along with John Paulson, a hedge fund manager and Trump donor, and Robert Lighthizer, US trade representative under Trump. Mike Pompeo, who was CIA director and then secretary of state in the last White House, might be offered a role as secretary of defence.

The Times