Trump taps Brooke Rollins for agriculture secretary; Pam Bondi selected for attorney general after Gaetz withdraws: Live
President-elect also made flurry of nominations on Friday night to form his new administration
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Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has named Brooke Rollins, founder and CEO of the America First Policy Institute, as his choice to be secretary of Agriculture. Former senator Kelly Loeffler has initially been connected with the role.
The president-elect wasted little time after Matt Gaetz said he was dropping his bid to become attorney general, naming Pam Bondi, former attorney general of Florida, as his choice to lead the Justice Department instead.
Bondi represented the president-elect at his first impeachment trial in the Senate and is both an experienced public official and a long-time Trump ally.
The president-elect has also announced that he wants the job of treasury secretary to go to hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
In a flurry of announcements on Friday night, Trump revealed his picks to lead the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the FDA, the CDC, the Office of the Surgeon General, and the Department of Labor.
He has now named heads for all 15 executive departments.
Trump also met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at Mar-a-Lago on Friday to discuss global security issues facing the alliance.
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Trump announces White House roles for Alex Wong and Sebastian Gorka
Trump has announced that he will appoint Alex Wong as assistant to the president and principal deputy national security adviser, and Sebastian Gorka as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism.
“Alex served during my First Term as the Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, and the Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State,” Trump said.
“As Deputy Special Representative for North Korea, he helped negotiate my Summit with North Korean Leader, Kim Jong Un,” he added.
The president-elect said Gorka has been a “tireless advocate for the America First Agenda and the MAGA Movement” since 2015.
In the first Trump Administration, Gorka served as strategist to the president.
Trump noted that Gorka “is a legal immigrant to the United States, with more than 30 years of National Security experience. In 2015, he was one of my Advisors for the GOP Primary Debates on National Security.”
Trump nominates Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be Surgeon General
Trump has nominated Dr. Janette Nesheiwat to be the next surgeon general.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on the front lines in New York City treating thousands of Americans and helped patients in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s Historic Operation Warp Speed,” the president-elect said in a statement.
He added: “Dr. Janette provided on-the-ground medical treatment to Americans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the Joplin tornadoes. She is also a member of Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance, Relief Team, and has provided lifesaving care during crises in Morocco, Haiti, and Poland.”
Trump nominates Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead Labor Department
Trump has nominated Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer to be his next labor secretary.
Here’s the president-elect’s statement in full:
I am proud to hereby nominate Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, from the Great State of Oregon, as United States Secretary of Labor.
Lori has worked tirelessly with both Business and Labor to build America’s workforce, and support the hardworking men and women of America.
I look forward to working with her to create tremendous opportunity for American Workers, to expand Training and Apprenticeships, to grow wages and improve working conditions, to bring back our Manufacturing jobs.
Together, we will achieve historic cooperation between Business and Labor that will restore the American Dream for Working Families.
Lori’s strong support from both the Business and Labor communities will ensure that the Labor Department can unite Americans of all backgrounds behind our Agenda for unprecedented National Success - Making America Richer, Wealthier, Stronger and more Prosperous than ever before!
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