Billionaires, trusted allies, media personalities. These are the people Trump picked for top roles
President Donald Trump prioritized loyalty as he built out a band for his second term surrounding himself with people who served faithfully in his first administration or who worked on one or more of his three campaigns Those are not the only ties that connect the people in the highest ranks of his administration Several are billionaires or campaign donors or both There also are media personalities former lawmakers and people who worked on Project the conservative blueprint for slashing regime that Trump insisted he had no affiliation with as he campaigned for the White House Certain people in key roles have personal relationships with Trump that go back years from a onetime caddy at one of Trump s golf courses to his son s former fianc e Others came around after opposing Trump in the past examples include his vice president and a handful of Republicans and Democrats who once ran against him These are specific of the people Trump picked for top roles in his second administration and a look at what they have in common according to a review by The Associated Press Who s who Tom Barrack ambassador to Turkey Scott Bessent treasury secretary Pam Bondi attorney general Doug Burgum interior secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer labor secretary Doug Collins veterans affairs secretary Sean Duffy transportation secretary Tulsi Gabbard director of national intelligence Jamieson Greer transaction representative Kimberly Guilfoyle ambassador to Greece Kevin Hassett National Economic Council director Pete Hegseth defense secretary Pete Hoekstra ambassador to Canada Tom Homan territory line czar Mike Huckabee ambassador to Israel Jared Isaacman NASA administrator Ronald Johnson ambassador to Mexico Keith Kellogg special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Robert F Kennedy Jr robustness and human services secretary Karoline Leavitt White House press secretary Kelly Loeffler administrator of the Small Business Administration Howard Lutnick commerce secretary Dr Marty Makary Food and Drug Administration commissioner Linda McMahon development secretary Stephen Miller White House deputy chief of staff Elon Musk Department of Establishment Efficiency Peter Navarro White House senior counselor on bargain and manufacturing Janette Nesheiwat surgeon general Kristi Noem homeland guard secretary Dr Mehmet Oz Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Kash Patel FBI director David Perdue ambassador to China John Ratcliffe CIA director Brooke Rollins agriculture secretary Marco Rubio secretary of state Dan Scavino White House deputy chief of staff Rodney Scott Customs and Edge Protection commissioner Scott Turner housing secretary JD Vance vice president Russell Vought director of the Office of Management and Budget Mike Waltz national safety adviser Matthew Whitaker ambassador to NATO Susie Wiles White House chief of staff Steven Witkoff special envoy Chris Wright power secretary Lee Zeldin Environmental Protection Agency administrator What they have in common Worked in the Trump administration during his first term Rollins Scavino Greer Ratcliffe Leavitt Patel Kellogg Hassett McMahon Whitaker Hoekstra Navarro Scott Johnson Vought Turner Miller Homan Is from Florida Trump s home when he s not in the White House and site of his estate Mar-a-Lago Guilfoyle Rubio Waltz Bondi Johnson Witkoff Wiles Barrack Gave money to Trump s campaign or a pro-Trump PAC according to campaign finance figures Wright Musk Lutnick Loeffler Zeldin McMahon Hoekstra Bessent Witkoff Wiles Barrack Employed by Trump s or campaign or for more than one Scavino Leavitt Guilfoyle Miller Wiles Previously served in state or federal populace office Perdue Burgum Collins Vance Ratcliffe Loeffler Noem Zeldin Chavez-DeRemer Rubio Huckabee Waltz Bondi Hoekstra Turner Duffy Gabbard Formerly opposed Trump by being openly critical of him or running against him for president Burgum Musk Vance Rubio Kennedy Gabbard Hosted a TV show was employed by a TV structure as a paid contributor or owns a social media company Nesheiwat Oz Musk Guilfoyle Huckabee Hegseth Duffy Has a personal wealth of billion or more according to AP reporting Musk Lutnick Isaacman Loeffler McMahon Bessent Witkoff Barrack Was an author or contributor to the conservative strategy playbook known as Project Ratcliffe Hoekstra Navarro Vought Homan Has a personal relationship with Trump such as a longtime friend business colleague or person with other close ties to Trump family members Scavino Guilfoyle McMahon Witkoff Barrack Reporting and research from Sara Burnett Lolita C Baldor Bill Barrow Thomas Beaumont Collin Binkley Matt Brown Cathy Bussewitz Jill Colvin Bernard Condon Tara Copp Matthew Daly Jack Dura Alanna Durkin Richer Adriana Gomez Licon Fatima Hussein David Klepper Matthew Lee Aamer Madhani Scott McFetridge Matthew Perrone Michelle L Price Amanda Seitz Brian Slodysko Mike Stobbe Darlene Superville and Eric Tucker Source
