Who is on Trump's top team?
- Published
The new team entrusted with delivering Donald Trump's agenda is in place, featuring several contentious picks.
Ahead of his return to the White House on 20 January 2025, he appointed Fox News host and military veteran Pete Hegseth as defence secretary and vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary—both confirmed by the Senate.
Marco Rubio is the secretary of state, while billionaire supporter Elon Musk is advising on mass layoffs, contract terminations, and a drastic federal government downsizing.
Here's a closer look at his top officials:
Who is in Trump's cabinet?
Secretary of state - Marco Rubio
Florida Senator Rubio, 53, was confirmed as US secretary of state just hours after Trump was sworn into office.
He is now serving as the top US diplomat when representing the country overseas, and also the president's main adviser on foreign affairs.
Rubio, who is the first Latino person to hold the post in US history, takes a hawkish view of China. He opposed Trump in the 2016 Republican primary but has since mended fences.
Defence secretary - Pete Hegseth
Hegseth, a military veteran and Fox News host with no prior political experience, was confirmed as defence secretary less than a week after Trump's inauguration.
His appointment was highly anticipated amid ongoing wars in Ukraine and Gaza. "Nobody fights harder for the troops," Trump said of Hegseth.
After Hegseth's nomination it emerged that he was investigated in 2017 for an alleged sexual assault. He was never arrested or charged and denies the allegation.
His lawyer confirmed he paid a woman that year to stay silent about a separate assault claim he feared could cost him his Fox job—an accusation he also denies.
Attorney general - Pam Bondi
Trump's first pick for attorney general, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, withdrew after a week of controversy over a congressional investigation into sexual misconduct and drug allegations against him, which he denied.
Six hours later, Trump named former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as his replacement. "Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, tough on violent criminals, and made Florida's streets safe," he wrote.
Bondi previously served on Trump's Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission and was part of his defence team during his first impeachment trial.
Department of the interior - Doug Burgum
Burgum, the former governor of North Dakota, leads the Department of the Interior, which is responsible for the management and conservation of federal lands and natural resources.
A software entrepreneur who sold his small company to Microsoft in 2001, Burgum briefly ran in the 2024 Republican primary before dropping out, endorsing Trump and quickly impressing him with his low-drama persona and sizeable wealth.
Health and human services - Robert F Kennedy Jr
RFK Jr, as he is known, is an environmental lawyer, vaccine sceptic and the nephew of former President John F Kennedy. He recently added leading the Department of Health and Human Services to his resume.
Despite having no medical qualifications, Kennedy, 70, now has broad remit over US federal health agencies - including those that oversee approval of vaccines and pharmaceuticals.
Kennedy has endorsed a number of health claims that are not backed by scientific evidence, including many on vaccines, which have concerned many medical experts.
Food and Drug Administration - Dr Marty Makary
Trump has nominated Makary to lead the Food and Drug Administration, the organisation responsible for the safety of prescription drugs and vaccines .
Trump announced in his nomination that Dr Makary would be ideal to "course-correct and refocus the Agency".
The Johns Hopkins University professor is an author, surgeon and trained cancer specialist. He spoke to conservative media outlets during the Covid-19 pandemic, questioning the need for masks and expressing concerns over the Covid vaccine among young children, which research showed helped prevent severe illness.
Veterans' affairs - Doug Collins
Former Georgia congressman Doug Collins leads the US Department of Veterans' Affairs.
Collins was a Trump loyalist when he served in Congress from 2013-21 and an outspoken advocate for the president during both impeachment hearings.
An Iraq war veteran who now serves as a chaplain in the US Air Force Reserve, Collins left Congress for an unsuccessful bid for the Senate in his home state of Georgia.
Homeland security - Kristi Noem
Former South Dakota Governor Noem is in a key role in the administration, overseeing US security, including its borders, cyber-threats, terrorism and emergency response.
The agency has a $62bn (£48bn) budget and employs thousands of people. It incorporates a wide variety of agencies under its umbrella, ranging from Customs and Border Protection to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Transportation secretary - Sean Duffy
The former congressman and Fox Business host leads the Department of Transportation.
He is in charge of aviation, automotive, rail, transit and other transportation policies at a department with an annual budget of roughly $110bn.
In the role, the secretary can expect to face a number of safety-related aviation issues, including a series of deadly plane crashes in the US in the early months of 2025.
Energy secretary - Chris Wright
Oil and gas industry executive Wright leads the Department of Energy, where he is expected to fulfil Trump's campaign promise to "drill, baby, drill" and maximise US energy production.
Wright, the founder-CEO of Liberty Energy, has called climate activists alarmist and likened Democrats' push for renewables to Soviet-style communism.
In a video posted to his LinkedIn profile last year, he said: "There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either."
Commerce secretary - Howard Lutnick
Lutnick was the co-chair of Trump's transition team.
Trump said Lutnick, as a member of the cabinet, would spearhead the administration's "tariff and trade agenda".
The billionaire and former CEO of the investment firm Cantor Fitzgerald is overseeing 50,000 employees tasked with growing the economy and creating jobs, among other goals.
Education secretary - Linda McMahon
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) co-founder and Trump transition co-chair, McMahon, was picked for education secretary.
A long-time Trump ally, McMahon led the Small Business Administration during Trump's first presidency and donated millions of dollars to his presidential campaign.
Trump has promised to shut down the education department - a job McMahon could be tasked with if she wins Senate confirmation.
"I wholeheartedly support and agree with this mission," she said during her confirmation hearing.
Treasury secretary - Scott Bessent
Scott Bessent leads the Treasury Department, a post with wide oversight of tax policy, public debt, international finance and sanctions.
A Wall Street financier who once worked for liberal billionaire George Soros, Bessent was an early backer of Trump's 2024 bid and brings a relatively conventional resume to the role.
On the campaign trail, Bessent told voters that Trump would usher in a "new golden age with de-regulation, low-cost energy, [and] low taxes".
"[He] has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda," Trump said about his pick.
Labour secretary - Lori Chavez-DeRemer
Chavez-DeRemer has been selected by Trump to lead the US Department of Labor - which oversees worker health and safety and workforce laws and administers unemployment and workers compensation.
Chavez-DeRemer had been serving in the US Congress since 2023 but lost her re-election bid in Oregon in the November election, despite winning strong trade union support.
Housing secretary - Scott Turner
Turner, an NFL veteran and motivational speaker, leads the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (Hud), which aims to address the country's housing needs.
Typically, Hud enforces laws, prevents discrimination and provides assistance to those in need, through both low-income housing and helping Americans avoid foreclosure.
Turner served as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Trump's first term.
Brooke Rollins
Agriculture secretary - Brooke Rollins
Rollins grew up on a farm, but her most recent job was as co-founder and head of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank to promote Trump's public policy agenda.
Rollins graduated from the Texas A&M University with a degree in agriculture development and later obtained her law degree from the same university.
As agriculture secretary, she oversees farm subsidies, federal nutrition programmes, meat inspections and other facets of the country's agricultural industry.
Other key members
Outside the 15 department heads who make up the core of the cabinet, there are several other roles that are often given cabinet-rank, like the FBI director and the head of the Environment Protection Agency (EPA). Some of them require Senate approval, but others do not.
Here are some of the important names:
Department of Government Efficiency - Elon Musk
Trump tapped close ally and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to lead what he has termed a Department of Government Efficiency. It is not a cabinet-level department or agency approved by Congress, but it does include paid staff with access to various government agencies.
Known as Doge - a nod to a cryptocurrency promoted by Musk - it serves in an advisory capacity to "dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures and restructure federal agencies", Trump said.
Musk, the world's richest man, has proven to be one of Trump's most controversial picks as he has suggested massive cuts to the federal workforce and government funding.
Other names to know:
National Institutes of Health director - Jay Bhattacharya
Senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs - Massad Boulos
Federal Communications Commission chair - Brendan Carr
Communications director - Steven Cheung
Director of national intelligence - Tulsi Gabbard
Assistant to the president - Sergio Gor
US trade representative - Jamieson Greer
Director of National Economic Council - Kevin Hassett
Border tsar - Tom Homan
Ambassador to Israel - Mike Huckabee
Special envoy to Ukraine and Russia - Keith Kellogg
Press secretary - Karoline Leavitt
White House counsel - William McGinley
Deputy chief of staff - Stephen Miller
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - Mehmet Oz (nominee)
Federal Bureau of Investigation head - Kash Patel
US Navy Secretary - John Phelan
Central Intelligence Agency director - John Ratcliffe
Solicitor general - Dean John Sauer
United Nations ambassador - Elise Stefanik (nominee)
UK ambassador - Warren Stephens (nominee)
Office of Management and Budget - Russell Vought
National security adviser - Mike Waltz
Chief of staff - Susie Wiles
Special envoy to the Middle East - Steve Witkoff
Ambassador to Nato - Matthew Whitaker
Head of Environmental Protection Agency - Lee Zeldin