The 2024 election drama is over, with Donald Trump coming back from the depths to win a second term in office, becoming only the second United States President to hold office two separate times. Now comes the part where Trump begins selecting his cabinet members, and this time, things might be different. His cabinet in 2016 was full of people who were simply not loyal.
There was Steven Mnuchin, one of many who called for the invoking of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office after January 6th. Trump's former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper turned on him, saying he is unfit for office. His own Vice President Mike Pence even turned on him soon after the 2020 election.
It wasn't all bad, he had plenty of loyal cabinet members in his first term. But there were just enough rotten bits in there that is became his downfall. This time in 2024, Trump has to lean on loyalty and trust. Fromer White House advisor Steve Munisteri says Trump learned a valuable lesson.
"Last time, because he has not been in politics before...he did not have a long-term political team...like most Governors or Senators would when running for president," he says. "There were a divergent group of people from different camps."
Tightening his circle has been a big lesson Trump has learned, and to not trust people simply because they agree with him on the surface. We have seen that, with Trump sticking closely with his 'Dream Team' of Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, Vivek Ramaswamy, and plenty of others.
But ultimately, it is not up to the cabinet to run the country, and the choices are not made by anyone else. That is on Donald Trump, and his appointees this time will show a lot about what he has learned.
"I would not say what you can expect from the cabinet...but more what to expect from Donald Trump...he has a clear idea where he wants to do...and knows how to get things done...I think the big difference is they will hit the ground running," he says.
Of course, we will not know until earl 2025 who Trump names to his team. We might see old faces, like former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, come back into the fold. But we could see some new faces emerge as well, like Ramaswamy or even Elon Musk.
We might also see Texas' own Attorney General Ken Paxton pulled into the mix as the US Attorney General.
"It is going to be someone who is a Republican Attorney General...someone who has a history of being fearless...and certainly Paxton falls into that category," he says.
In the end though, it is going to come down to what Trump wants, and who he trusts. He is a businessman at heart, after all, and that may be what he gravitates toward when building his team.
"I think you will see a lot of business types, and see some folks that have held elected office," says Munisteri.
He adds whatever group he chooses will be more within his tight knit circle, and most importantly, people who are committed to what his platform contains.
Photo: Getty Images North America