Trump jr ’s turn to help pick the most ‘controversial’ cabinet of modern times

Trump jr ’s turn to help pick the most ‘controversial’ cabinet of modern times

Donald Trump, who fiercely prizes loyalty, has long relied on family members for political advice; this time, it is the U.S. President-elect’s son who has helped Cabinet contenders sink or rise and will provide advice in the White House while staying away from daily deliberations, say sources.

As U.S. President-elect Donald Trump builds the most controversial Cabinet in modern U.S. history — elevating inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in his administration — his son Donald Trump Jr. has emerged as the most influential Trump family member in the transition, according to a half dozen sources with knowledge of his role.

Mr. Trump, who fiercely prizes loyalty, has long relied on family members for political advice, but which relative has his ear is known to vary.

This time, it is Mr. Trump Jr., who has helped Cabinet contenders sink or rise to the fore — from championing Senator J. D. Vance as Mr. Trump’s running mate to blocking former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from joining the Cabinet, according to the sources, who include donors, personal friends, and political allies.

Mr. Trump Jr. is due to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, although one of the sources said he will continue to host his politics-focused podcast and support candidates that espouse Mr. Trump’s brand of politics.

He will provide advice to his father in the White House, the source added, although they cautioned that Mr. Trump Jr. was unlikely to be involved in day-to-day deliberations.

Mr. Trump Jr. and the Trump-Vance transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Vetting candidates

In addition to ensuring candidates are loyal to his father, Mr. Trump Jr. typically seeks out contenders who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies, and a reduction in military interventions and overseas aid, according to a handful of the sources and Mr. Trump Jr.’s own comments on social media site X and in public.

Two of the candidates Mr. Trump Jr. championed may face a rocky confirmation process in the Senate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who Mr. Trump plans to nominate as the top U.S. health official, and Tulsi Gabbard, who Mr. Trump plans to nominate as intelligence chief.

Mr. Kennedy Jr. is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation on vaccines. Ms. Gabbard, a former Democratic Congresswoman, implied that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid grounds for invading Ukraine and stirred controversy when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the midst of his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.

Mr. Trump Jr. was also instrumental in lobbying his father to pick the former’s close friend Mr. Vance as running mate for the presidential election held this month.

Mr. Vance was popular with Mr. Trump’s base, but his anti-corporate rhetoric, opposition to Ukraine aid, and past comments panning some Democratic women as “childless cat ladies” gave some donors and supporters pause.

Mr. Trump was ultimately happy with Mr. Vance, giving Mr. Trump Jr. extra political capital as an adviser during the transition, one of the sources added.

Not all of Mr. Trump Jr.’s picks have landed jobs.

He was keen on Ric Grenell, a personal friend and former Ambassador to Germany, getting Secretary of State, according to a separate source familiar with the matter. His father ended up picking Senator Marco Rubio, whose views are deemed by Mr. Trump’s core supporters as too traditional and internationalist.

No big roles

Two of the sources close to Mr. Trump Jr. said he does not weigh in on all personnel decisions and is not working on the transition process or at Mar-a-Lago full time. He is also not expected to play a big role in vetting candidates for lower-level jobs, one of the sources close to him said.

“The reality this time is we actually know what we are doing,” Mr. Trump Jr. told Fox News earlier this month. “And it is about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal.”

Mr. Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were prominent in his 2016 presidential campaign, the subsequent transition, and throughout his first term.

This time, they are far less active, although Mr. Kushner, formerly Mr. Trump’s senior adviser who focused on West Asia, said that he is briefing real estate investor Steve Witkoff on his new job as special envoy to the region.

“I have been working with Witkoff to get him up to speed on Trump’s past efforts,” Mr. Kushner said through a spokesperson.

A half-dozen sources close to Mr. Kushner said they expect him to be involved in West Asian policy in an unofficial capacity, with the goal of normalising relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia under an expansion of the 2020 Abraham Accords. Mr. Kushner helped broker the accords, a series of normalisation agreements between Israel and Arab nations.

Mr. Kushner, Ms. Ivanka and her sibling Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization business, do not plan to join the new administration, according to their representatives as well as sources.

One source close to the transition said Mr. Trump does not appear to need his family for advice as much as in the past because of aides like Susie Wiles, who helped run the most disciplined of his election campaigns to date. Mr. Trump has named Ms. Wiles as his Chief of Staff, a powerful position in Washington.

“Stuff is really buttoned down,” the source said of Mr. Trump’s current team. “He may not need the family this time like he used to.”