US election 2024: Donald Trump’s questionable choices for his future administration

Matt Gaetz, Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth… The list of nominations decided by Donald Trump is growing day after day, and eyebrows are starting to furrow in certain Republican circles. Because if certain presidential choices attract consensus on the right, like Marco Rubio, future head of American diplomacy, others, on the other hand, seem preposterous to say the least. Or provocative.

Matt Gaetz, suspected of having embezzled public funds, minister of justice

Starting with Matt Gaetz, 42, a deputy from Florida, chosen to lead the Department of Justice. He is undoubtedly one of the most divisive elected officials in Congress. A fervent Trumpist, the man is hated on the left, but also by part of the right. The most moderate accuse him of having brought down, in October 2023, the then Republican President of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy, considered too moderate, by filing a motion of censure. An unprecedented internal settling of scores at the Capitol.

For Democrats, Matt Gaetz embodies all the excesses of the Maga camp – climate skeptic, conspiracy theorist, etc. Without forgetting his legal issues. He was accused of having had a sexual relationship with an underage girl, an allegation he denied, saying he was a victim, like his mentor Donald Trump, of the establishment. He is also suspected of having embezzled public funds, facts having triggered an investigation by the Ethics Committee of the House of Representatives.

Tulsi Gabbard, pro-Moscow at the head of intelligence

Tulsi Gabbard, 43, is another surprising profile. Donald Trump intends to entrust this former soldier, with no experience in intelligence, with the national intelligence directorate, which oversees the 17 American agencies. However, his pro-Russian positions are public knowledge. After Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, she pointed the finger at the American administration on social networks: “This war and this suffering could have been avoided if the administration (from Joe) Biden and NATO had simply taken into account Russia’s legitimate concerns about Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO. »

Like Donald Trump, she denounces American interventions abroad. In January 2020, she attacked then-President Donald Trump for ordering a drone strike in Baghdad that killed Iranian General Ghassem Soleimani, speaking of a “unlawful and unconstitutional act of war”. Switched to the Republican side, after having participated without convincing in the Democratic primary in 2020, she was described on Wednesday November 13 by Donald Trump as“mind without fear (…), championing our constitutional rights and ensuring peace through force”.

A former military host of Fox New at the Pentagon

Finally, what do we think of the appointment of a Fox News second-in-command at the head of the most powerful army in the world? An infantry officer in the National Guard for eighteen years, he was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he won two prestigious military medals, Pete Hegseth, 44, has never led a large institution. He also has no experience in national security. If confirmed to this position, he will lead 3.4 million soldiers and civilian employees and a staggering budget of more than $850 billion annually.

He became known to the general public, and undoubtedly to Donald Trump, when he arrived at Fox News in 2014, where he now hosts the weekend morning show. From the American army, he today denounces progressive positions and could return, once in power, to the policies favorable to diversity established within the armed forces for years. He is also against the participation of women in combat.

These appointments are a first test to gauge the reaction of American institutions to Maga Trumpism. In the Senate, to which the American Constitution has entrusted the role of confirming, or not, the most important presidential appointments (ministers, federal judges, etc.), these choices of Donald Trump are raising eyebrows. Regarding Matt Gaetz, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, Republican, commented: “I don’t think this is a serious nomination for the post of Minister of Justice. » The Republican camp has 53 elected officials out of 100, and the pressure will be strong on those elected officials daring to oppose the president back in the Oval Office.