Reuters. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said on Tuesday (November 12) Elon Musk and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Government Efficiency. Musk and Ramaswamy "will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies," Trump said in a statement.
Donald Trump on Tuesday nominated South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to serve as the next homeland security secretary, choosing a staunch ally who has little experience on the national security stage.
Noem, once seen as a possible running mate for fellow Republican Trump, is currently serving her second four-year term as governor after a landslide reelection victory in 2022. She rose to national prominence after refusing to impose a statewide mask mandate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump said on Tuesday (November 12) he had picked John Ratcliffe, a close ally who was director of national intelligence at the end of his first term, to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe served as the nation's top spy from late May 2020 until Trump left office in January 2021. More recently, he was co-chair of the Center for American Security, a think tank advocating Trump positions, and advised the former Republican president on national security policy during his 2024 campaign.
Ratcliffe, a former member of the House of Representatives, promised at his confirmation hearing to be DNI in May 2020 that he would provide "objective and timely intelligence" in the position. He also said he would closely monitor other issues like Iran's military, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and foreign interference in the U.S. election.
Donald Trump said on Tuesday (November 12) he will nominate Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth to be secretary of defense. "Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First," Trump said in a statement.
"With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice - Our Military will be Great Again, and America will Never Back Down," he added. Hegseth is an Army National Guard veteran and according to his website served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Donald Trump is expected to tap U.S. Senator Marco Rubio to be his Secretary of State, sources said, putting the Florida-born politician on track to be the first Latino to serve as America's top diplomat once the Republican president-elect takes office in January.
Rubio was arguably the most hawkish option on Trump's shortlist for Secretary of State, and he has in past years advocated for a muscular foreign policy with respect to America's geopolitical foes, including China, Iran and Cuba.
Rubio is also aware of the South Caucasus. In 2022, he and Robert Menendez introduced a bill condemning Azerbaijani aggression against Armenia and calling for sanctions on Baku. In the fall of 2023, after the forced deportation of Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, Rubio joined the “Armenia Defense Act,” which called on the Biden administration to stop providing military aid to Azerbaijan.
Rubio, 53, has said in recent interviews that Ukraine needs to seek a negotiated settlement with Russia rather than focus on regaining all territory that Russia has taken in the last decade. He was also one of 15 Republican senators to vote against a $95 billion military aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. partners, passed in April.
