Trump’s Cabinet
In issue 4 I discussed Trump and his tariffs, but now, in issue 8, I want to discuss his cabinet. Many of the people picked by President Trump have been heavily criticized by the media, politicians, and citizens alike.
To begin with, we have Marco Rubio, for secretary of state. Rubio is a 53-year-old Republican, a Florida senator and the first Latino to achieve this position. Secretary of state entails advising the president on US foreign policy, issuing passports and visas, and dealing with negotiations and treaties. Marco Rubio has already made some questionable moves as secretary of state, like giving 4 billion dollars of military aid to Israel, and criticizing Zelenskyy's “outburst” in recent meeting at the White House. Rubio, in his tenure as senator, prided himself as a person who deals with tyrants, but he’s working for the biggest tyrant ever. Even though he claims to “deal” with tyrants, last year he voted against aiding Ukraine with 6 billion dollars, and has shown outward support to Israel. To quote him, "These people are vicious animals who did horrifying crimes," Rubio talking about Hamas, and Palestinians, also saying this, "to destroy the terrorist organisation so it may never threaten the people of Israel again.” It’s obvious his views align with Trump, why else would he have been picked by him?
Now defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, a man with no experience with politics, he was formerly a military veteran and a Fox News anchor. He’s the second youngest person to be defence secretary, and also the least experienced. First, before diving into the questionable person that Hegseth is, what is a defence secretary and what does he do? The defence secretary oversees military operations, managing the defense budget, representing the military, and advising the government on defense-related matters. Hegseth is a man with a questionable past, in 2017 he was investigated for sexual assault allegations, but never arrested or charged, and currently he denies all allegations. But, his lawyer confirmed that he had paid another woman to stay silent about an assault claim, which he feared could make him lose his job at Fox—again denying all of that. What actions has Hegseth already taken? Well, he deployed 3,000 soldiers to the border in Mexico to “secure” it, and he fired top military lawyers because, simply they weren’t “suited” for their jobs. It’s an odd thing to put an inexperienced man behind such a vital role.
Let's move on to the department of the Interior, which is now led by Doug Burgum. In the elections, Burgum was running against Trump, but decided to drop out and endorse him instead, and look now he’s in charge of the Department of the Interior. You get the gist of the issue, I’ll explain. The Department of the Interior entails managing public land, Native American affairs, natural resources, and environmental protection. Trump has tasked him to boost drilling, as he wants to make American energy dominance. This has raised alarms for many environmentalists, and Democrats, because of greenhouse gas emissions. But how can we forget Trump doesn’t believe in climate change.
Pam Bondi is Trump’s pick for attorney general, she wasn’t his first option as Matt Gaetz withdrew due to his sexual misconduct and drug allegations—which he denies. Bondi was Florida attorney general from 2011 till 2019—so a little more experienced than his other picks. She was also a part of his defence team in his impeachment trial. Attorney general is a legal advisor to the government, represents the government in court, supervises legal policy, and oversees law enforcement. Some of the actions Bondi has taken are releasing the “phase 1” of the Epstein files, threatening to sue New York due to immigration, and also threatening to sue Maine, Minnesota, and California over transgender sport polices. Bondi openly refers to immigrants as ‘illegal aliens’ to quote “illegal aliens over American citizens,” while talking about New York’s immigrant policy. She’s one of Trump’s questionable picks—so is his whole cabinet.
Let’s move on to my least favourite pick, Robert F. Kennedy Jr as United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. RFK Jr is a man riddled with drug addiction, worms in his brain, and psychopathic tendencies. The title alone tells you what the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is about, managing public health programs, health policy, Healthcare research and development, health insurance, and much more. This is a pretty important job, and you just can't hand it to a man like RFK Jr who blends up chicken and mice to feed to hawks. RFK Jr is a big anti-vaxer and this poses a threat to all of America, there's already been Measles outbreaks in Florida, which he tries to downplay. If I were the president, I wouldn’t pick a man whose brain is basically controlled by a worm. Jack Schlossberg is the better Kennedy anyway.
Doug Collins is Trump’s pick for secretary of Veterans' Affairs, he’s even a veteran himself, was also a lawyer, the U.S. representative for Georgia's 9th congressional district from 2013 to 2021, and a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013. Veterans' Affairs is everything related to veterans from healthcare services, disability benefits, financial support, and employment assistance. Collins hasn’t made that many moves yet, unlike his peers. Recently he just stated that veterans have nothing to worry about as no critical services will be cut out. Collins is a huge 2020 election rig believer and even allied with Trump during his impeachment. When I first started researching Collins, I believed him to be one of the “normal” cabinet members, but I dug deeper and he’s just like the rest.
Now the secretary for homeland security, Kristi Noem, a 53-year-old and the governor of South Dakota from 2019 to 2025. Noem is a woman filled with controversy, not only is she a huge racist, but she also killed her 13-month-old puppy. Enough about her, what does her job entail? Homeland security was created after the 9/11 attacks in 2001 to ensure the safety of Americans, the job includes overseeing immigrants, border security, disaster response, infrastructure protection, and runs government agencies like ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), Coast Guard, CBP (Customs and Border Protection), Secret Service, and FEMA (The Federal Emergency Management Agency). Recently, Noem revoked deportation protection of over 600,000 Venezuelans, and she also said the government couldn’t be trusted—even though she’s in the government, the irony. Noem is a very difficult person to cover, from her saying stuff about native americans, the cartel being involved with Native Americans, to tweeting “all lives matter” during the BLM protests in 2020. But, I guess that’s just Trump’s cabinet.
Moving on to the Secretary of Energy, Chris Wright, he has no political experience but earned a bachelor's and a master's at MIT in mechanical and electrical engineering. He started two companies, one named Pinnacle Technologies, which he started in 1992 and sold in 2006; the other, Liberty Energy, founded in 2011, is North America’s 2nd biggest hydraulic fracturing company. Secretary of Energy is in charge of overseeing the U.S. Department of Energy, manages the national energy policy, nuclear security, and much more. Wright is like Trump, doesn't believe in the rapidness or even the existence of climate change. He plans to “Unleash Golden Era of American Energy Dominance,” and is going to follow Trump’s “America first” policy in energy. The “America First” policy entails more production of fossil fuels, as mentioned in the paragraph about Burgum. Everyone in his cabinet just has the same copy and paste beliefs, that’s why they're there.
Sean Duffy is Trump’s pick for secretary of Transportation, he’s an ex-congressman and a Fox Business host. He was also district attorney of Ashland county, Wisconsin from 2002 to 2010. Secretary of Transportation is in charge of (DOT) the Department of Transportation, which is responsible for developing and inputting polices regrading national transportation, regulating airplanes, air travel, and shipping. Duffy is a huge climate change disbeliever, also, and he was a part of an MTV show called ‘The Real World,’ he appeared in season 6 in 1997.
The secretary of commerce is Howard Lutnick, a businessman and philanthropist. The secretary of commerce oversees economic growth, job creation, and trade polices. Recently, he said he wants to remove GDP from government spending. He also started a gambling company in Nevada named Cantor Gaming, which was a subsidiary of his company Cantor Fitzgerald, which allowed people to bet on their phones, and in 2012 one of his executives was guilty of illegally gambling conspiracy.
Now time for the department Trump wanted to abolish, the Department of Education, whose secretary is Linda McMahon. Mcmahon is the co-founder of the WWE, and fun fact she only won by 51-45 votes. The department of education is simple, it’s anything related to the education of young Americans. McMahon is a billionaire, who wants to manipulate the youth of America. Recently, she sent an email saying they “laid out” final actions detailing this “My vision is aligned with the president’s: to send education back to the states and empower all parents to choose an excellent education for their children,” she intends to follow Trump’s plan of abloshing this 45 year old department. During a 2010 congressional campaign, she came under fire for being involved in the WWE’s usage of steroids. People are worried about her taking over as her beliefs might lead to inequality and issues for students, especially disabled students. She will do anything Trump says as she doesn’t care about education, only the business aspect.
The secretary of the treasury has been announced as Scott Bessent, a Yale graduate, and financier. The secretary of the treasury manages government finances, tax policy, debt, and international finances. Bessent was a democrat for a while, supporting candidates like Al Gore, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton—I really wonder what changed him, money maybe? Bessent is one of “normal” members of the cabinet, he’s known for doing philanthropy. But, he also supports Trump’s “America First” policy, Trump even said "[He] has long been a strong advocate of the America First Agenda.” Also, Bessent has been quoted to say this about tariffs "a new golden age with de-regulation, low-cost energy, low taxes". So clearly, he’s a little more normal than the other members but still Trump approved.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been named as Trump’s secretary of labour, she is a a businesswoman alongside being a politician. One little thing I’ll add, she shares a birthday with me, how sad. Chavez-DeRemer owns an anesthesia company and some medical clinics with her husband Dr. Shawn DeRemer. I’m not covering much of her political experience just yet, because I want to get into her job. The Secretary of labour is in charge of wages, benefits, laws regarding employment, labour unions, and workers' rights. Chavez-DeRemer was known as a pro-union politician, during her time as representative for Oregon's 5th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives; but, recently in her confirmation trial, Bernie Sanders asked her whether she wants to raise the minimum wage to a livable. Chavez-DeRemer could not answer, dodging all attempts, which shows her true character. She changed once she got one of the most powerful positions, how ironic. Fun fact number 2, she blew 60,000 at the Ritz once, small business owner who?
Now moving on to the secretary of housing, Scott Turner, he’s an ex-NFL player, and Texas’ 33rd district representative from 2013 till 2017. After retiring from the NFL, he shifted towards politics, and he’s also a businessman. The Secretary of Housing is in charge of affordable housing programs, homelessness prevention, Community Development, and much more related to housing initiatives. Turner has vowed to end the housing crisis/shortage, let's see if it actually happens. He also announced that he will halt all action related to HUD’s 2016 equal access rule, which entails that shelters can now deny people based on their biological gender. This is pushing Trump’s act of saying there are only 2 genders, and in the future may cause major pushback, right now it hasn’t got that much coverage as it should.
Last but not least, Brooke Rollins as Secretary of Agriculture, Rollins is an attorney and politician. Rollins was a part of the Texas Public Policy Foundation from 2003 to 2018, she was the president of this. Her job is managing farmlands, supporting farmers, food safety, and promoting agricultural trade. Rollins directed domestic policy during Trump’s first term. She has also promised to fight for America’s farmers, and made jokes about the egg prices making people get chickens in their backyard. Trump and her have made a 1 billion dollar plan to combat bird flu.
All of these people in Trump’s cabinet align with his views, even if you think that they’re less crazy then Trump, you have to remember he chose them for a reason. I honestly thought when I first started researching, that there would be 2 to 3 crazy picks, but holy, all of them have Trump’s views, and all of them are pretty insane, no matter their background or just their policies. This concludes it for issue 8 of Untitled Journals, I’m sorry for the inconsistency, I’ve just had a big writer's block.
—Untitled journals issue 8