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The members of Trump’s Cabinet have different underlying beliefs and goals that are hidden beneath the overarching theme of ‘America First’. Some potential nominees are driven by a desire for revenge, others are focused on stabilizing the economy, and a third group is dedicated to reducing the number of people and budgets, even if it may be an impossible task.
Written by David E. Sanger
David E. Sanger has written about the actions and policies of five different U.S. presidents during his long career as a journalist for The New York Times
President-elect Donald J. Trump has made his last cabinet appointments and other staff selections, creating what his team sees as a cohesive and loyal administration focused on his "Make America Great Again" agenda. However, upon closer inspection, there are actually three separate groups with different beliefs and political views that have been kept in check to navigate the confirmation process.
A group of individuals seeking revenge, headed by potential nominees, have been tasked with dismantling the Justice Department, intelligence agencies, and Defense Department. Their goal is to target the deep state and those involved in prosecuting Mr. Trump.
Mr. Trump is assembling a team to reassure the markets, with Scott Bessent, a Wall Street billionaire chosen as a potential Treasury secretary, as a possible leader. While Mr. Bessent supports deregulation and lower taxes (as part of the Make America Great Again agenda), he may work to prevent extreme measures proposed by Mr. Trump, such as imposing tariffs on foreign goods that could lead to inflation and disrupt the post-election stock market growth.
A government reduction team, headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, has extremely ambitious goals. They aim to reduce the annual federal budget by at least $2 trillion, which is more than the total cost of salaries for all federal employees. (For reference, the total federal budget in the 2024 fiscal year was $6.75 trillion.)
The interaction and potential conflicts between these missions are unclear and a major uncertainty for the new administration.
Having a variety of different beliefs and opinions is often viewed as a positive aspect of presidential cabinets rather than a negative one. However, what has surprised many people about Mr. Trump’s recent cabinet selections is the diversity of backgrounds and perspectives that exist beneath a surface level of loyalty to the Make America Great Again agenda and to Mr. Trump personally. Some of his picks may not seem like they would fit in well at a Trump rally.
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