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Second presidential transition of Donald Trump

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Second presidential transition of Donald Trump
Date of electionNovember 5, 2024
Transition startNovember 6, 2024
Inauguration dateJanuary 20, 2025
President-electDonald Trump (Republican)
Vice president-electJD Vance (Republican)
Outgoing presidentJoe Biden (Democratic)
Outgoing vice presidentKamala Harris (Democratic)
Co-chairs
Honorary co-chairs[1]
This article or section is part of a series about
United States
presidential transitions
Transitions
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The second presidential transition of Donald Trump is an effort to prepare for the presidential transition from Joe Biden to Donald Trump, the winner of the 2024 presidential election.

This is the second time in which a president has served two non-consecutive terms, the first being Grover Cleveland with the elections of 1884 and 1892.

Developments

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Trump became the party's presumptive nominee on March 12, 2024, and formally accepted the nomination at the Republican National Convention in July later that year. The Trump campaign announced the formation of the transition team on August 16, with Linda McMahon, Trump's former head of the Small Business Administration, and Howard Lutnick, the billionaire CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and BGC Group, officially named as co-chairs. Vice presidential nominee JD Vance, along with his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, were designated as honorary co-chairs.[2] The effort beginning at this time was considered unusually late, as historically, most transition efforts start in the late spring.[3]

Trump disavowed any connection to Project 2025, also known as the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, a 900-page governance proposal published in April 2023 by the Heritage Foundation. The document was authored by some 140 Trump associates. Heritage president Kevin Roberts said Trump was "making a political tactical decision there" by distancing himself from Project 2025.[4][5][6]

On August 27, attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard were also selected as honorary co-chairs, both of which being former Democrats who had recently endorsed Trump.[7] Kennedy had originally mounted an independent presidential bid before withdrawing from the race to endorse Trump, reportedly in exchange for a Cabinet position in his administration.[8]

In October, the New York Times noted how Trump had refused to sign standard agreements around ethics and disclosure in order to begin key aspects of the transition process. The internal ethics pledges signed by Trump staff so far have been more lenient than standard pledges signed by Harris' transition team and the Trump team does not have to disclose its donors to the transition effort until it does.[9]

In October, Politico, reported on how potential conflicts of interest surrounding co-chair Howard Lutnick had created tension within the transition team and criticism of the transition effort.[10]

Potential appointees

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In an August 2024 interview with Reuters, Trump expressed interest in appointing businessman Elon Musk to an administration position, potentially to his Cabinet, referring to Musk as "a brilliant guy." Musk, who is the billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, as well as the chairman of X, has expressed views aligned with Trump and financially supported his campaign through a super PAC named "America PAC". Musk had expressed interest in serving on a "government efficiency commission" if Trump were to be elected to another term.[11] However, days later, Trump walked back expectations of Musk joining his Cabinet, believing him to be too preoccupied with his business career to effectively serve.[12]

During Trump's selection of a running mate prior to the convention, North Dakota governor Doug Burgum and U.S. senator Marco Rubio were reported to be among the finalists for consideration.[13] When Trump eventually selected Vance as his vice presidential candidate, he made a phone call to Burgum in which he appeared to offer him a Cabinet position.[14] Since then, Burgum and Rubio have been considered as top contenders for Trump's secretary of state, with U.S. senator Bill Hagerty, who served as Trump's ambassador to Japan, also reported to be in consideration.[15] Burgum announced a diplomatic visit to Israel in September, in what was seen as an effort to campaign for the secretary position.[16] Former 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy has also revealed he has held talks with Trump for a potential cabinet position.[17]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Fuchs, Hailey (August 29, 2024). "Meet the think tank planning a second Trump administration. (It's not Project 2025.)". Politico.
  2. ^ McGraw, Meridith (August 16, 2024). "Trump transition chair pick signals think tank influence". Politico. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  3. ^ Miller, Zeke (2024-08-27). "Presidential transition planning has begun in earnest, but Trump and Harris are already behind". AP News. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
  4. ^ Levien, Simon J. (September 12, 2024). "What Is Project 2025, and Why Did Trump Disavow It at the Debate?". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Contorno, Steve (July 11, 2024). "Trump claims not to know who is behind Project 2025. A CNN review found at least 140 people who worked for him are involved". CNN. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts: "The overlap is tremendous" between Trump's campaign platform and Project 2025". Media Matters. July 11, 2024. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  7. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Swan, Jonathan; O'Brien, Rebecca Davis (August 27, 2024). "Trump to Put Kennedy and Gabbard on His Transition Team". The New York Times. ISSN 1553-8095. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  8. ^ Kelly, Stephanie (August 21, 2024). "RFK Jr wants administration job in return for endorsing Trump, super PAC says". Reuters. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
  9. ^ Bensinger, Ken (October 9, 2024). "Trump Holds Up Transition Process, Skirting Ethics and Fund-Raising Rules". New York Times.
  10. ^ Bade, Rachael; Goodman, Jasper (October 23, 2024). "Trump transition chief under fire for conflicts". Politico.
  11. ^ Tan, Kevin (August 20, 2024). "Donald Trump said he'd want Elon Musk in his Cabinet". Business Insider. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  12. ^ Neal, Will (August 26, 2024). "Donald Trump Backpedals on Elon Musk's Cabinet Role: 'He Can't, Really'". The Daily Beast. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  13. ^ "Trump zeroes in on his VP finalists: From the Politics Desk". NBC News. June 21, 2024. Archived from the original on June 26, 2024. Retrieved June 22, 2024.
  14. ^ Sforza, Lauren (July 16, 2024). "Burgum says Trump called him 'Mr. Secretary' on call". The Hill. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  15. ^ Allen, Mike; VandeHei, Jim (July 30, 2024). "Behind the Curtain: The battle for Trump power". Axios. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  16. ^ Port, Rob (September 16, 2024). "Gov. Burgum, still a hopeful for Trump's cabinet, travels to Israel". inforum.com. Retrieved September 17, 2024.
  17. ^ Irwin, Lauren (21 August 2024). "Vivek Ramaswamy says he talked to Donald Trump about role in administration". The Hill. Retrieved 19 September 2024.
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