2024-11-13 10:50:00
Photo caption, Trump chose Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has been critical of China in the past, to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
- Author, Antonio Zucher
- Role, BBC News North America correspondent
- Twitter,
1 hour ago
The president-elect announced nearly a dozen appointments in his first steps toward rounding out his team at the White House and key government departments.
Trump has also made comments in the press and on social media highlighting what his priorities will be when he takes office in January, with a particular focus on immigration and foreign policy.
After a sometimes chaotic start to his first term, Trump is laying the groundwork for his next term with a more clearly defined plan — and a team ready to execute it.
An uncompromising immigration team
Stephen Miller, Trump’s close adviser and speechwriter since 2015, is Trump’s choice to be White House deputy chief of staff for policy. It will likely shape any mass deportation plan and reduce illegal and legal immigration.
During Trump’s first term, Miller was involved in developing some of the administration’s toughest immigration policies.
Thomas Homan, acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency during Trump’s first term, supported the president’s policy of separating undocumented families detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. Now he is back with an even broader portfolio as Trump’s ”immigration czar.”
“I will command the largest deportation force this country has ever seen,” Homan said at a conservative conference in July.
Critics have warned that Trump’s mass deportation plan could cost more than $300 billion (R$1.7 trillion).
In an interview with NBC News last week, however, the president-elect said cost is not an issue.
“When people were killing and murdering, when drug traffickers were destroying countries, and now they return to these countries because they have no intention of staying here,” he said. “Priceless.”
Tough position towards China
Many conservatives believe China poses the greatest threat to the United States’ continued global dominance, both economic and military.
While Trump has been more cautious, limiting most of his criticism of China to the trade realm, he is packing his foreign policy team with vocal China critics.
The president-elect has chosen Florida Congressman Mike Waltz, a retired Army colonel, as his national security adviser – a key foreign policy position in the White House.
Waltz has said the United States is in a “cold war” with China and was one of the first members of Congress to call for a U.S. boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
In October, Rep. Elise Stefanik, Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, accused China of “blatant and malicious election interference” amid reports that Chinese-backed hackers had attempted to gather information from China’s phones. former president.
Although Trump has not yet officially named his choice for secretary of state, Florida Senator Marco Rubio – another China critic – appears to be the leading contender for the position.
In 2020, Rubio was sanctioned by the Chinese government after pushing for measures to punish the nation for its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.
US-China relations went through several difficult moments during Trump’s first term, due to trade disputes and the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Biden administration, which has maintained many of Trump’s tariffs on China and imposed new ones, has only calmed things down a bit. Now it looks like the next Trump administration will pick up where the last one left off.
Musk’s new role
While Trump’s list of political appointees grows, there is another group that remains small and extremely influential.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has been a full-time presence at Trump’s transition headquarters at Mar-a-Lago.
On Tuesday evening, Trump announced that he would assign Musk to work with tech entrepreneur and former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on a “government efficiency department” tasked with identifying additional budget cuts.
Musk has regularly offered his political opinions on his social media platform X, including supporting Florida Sen. Rick Scott’s bid to become the next Senate majority leader.
Musk’s political action committee has spent around $200 million (R$1.4 billion) to help Trump’s presidential campaign, and promises to continue funding the group’s efforts to advance the president-elect’s agenda and help Republican candidates in upcoming congressional elections.
Trump has said he plans to give the former Democrat and vaccine skeptic, who abandoned his independent candidacy and supported the Republican one, a role in his plan to make America “healthy” again.