Donald Trump Jr helps his father choose a controversial government

Alexandra Ulmer
| Reuters

Donald Trump Jr. has become the most influential member of the Trump family in the transition as the president-elect builds the most controversial Cabinet in modern U.S. history, according to a half-dozen sources with knowledge of his role, elevating inexperienced loyalists above more qualified candidates. for high positions in his administration.

Trump, who fiercely values loyalty, has long relied on family members for political advice, but which relative has his ear has been known to vary.

This time, it was Don Jr. who helped cabinet candidates sink or rise to prominence — championing Sen. J.D. Vance as Trump’s running mate and blocking the former secretary from State Mike Pompeo to join the cabinet, according to the sources, which include donors, personal friends and political allies.

Don Jr. is expected to join conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, although one of the sources said he would continue to host his politics-focused podcast and support candidates who espouse Trump’s political policies.

He will provide advice to his father at the White House, the source added, while cautioning that Don Jr. was unlikely to be involved in day-to-day deliberations.

Don Jr. and the Trump-Vance transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

In addition to ensuring candidates are loyal to his father, Don Jr. typically seeks candidates who embrace an anti-establishment worldview, including protectionist economic policies and a reduction in military interventions and foreign aid , according to a handful of sources and Don. Jr.’s own comments on social media site X and in public.

Two of the nominees championed by Don Jr. could face a difficult confirmation process in the Senate: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Trump plans to nominate to be the top health official in the United States, and Tulsi Gabbard, whom Trump plans to nominate as intelligence chief.

Kennedy is an environmental activist who has spread misinformation about vaccines. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin had valid reasons to invade Ukraine and sparked controversy when she met with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad amid his bloody crackdown on dissidents in 2017.

Influential – to a point

Don Jr. was also instrumental in pressuring his father to choose his close friend Vance as Trump’s running mate.

Vance was popular with Trump’s base, but his anti-business rhetoric, opposition to aid to Ukraine and past comments calling some Democratic women “childless cat ladies” gave some donors and supporters pause .

Trump was ultimately happy with Vance, giving Don Jr. additional political capital as an adviser during the transition, one of the sources added.

Not all of Don Jr.’s choices landed a job.

He wanted Ric Grenell, a personal friend and former ambassador to Germany, to become secretary of state, according to another source familiar with the matter. His father ended up choosing Senator Marco Rubio, whose views are seen by core Trump supporters as too traditional and internationalist.

Two of the sources close to Don Jr. said he does not weigh in on all personnel decisions and is not working on the transition process or at Mar-a-Lago full time. Nor is he expected to play a significant role in selecting candidates for lower-level positions, one of his close sources said.

“The reality this time is we actually know what we’re doing,” Don Jr. told Fox News earlier this month. “And it’s about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal.”

Following in her sister’s footsteps

Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner played significant roles during his 2016 presidential campaign, the subsequent transition and throughout his first term.

This time, they are much less active, although Kushner, Trump’s former senior adviser on the Middle East, told Reuters he was briefing real estate investor Steve Witkoff about his new post as special envoy to the region.

“I worked with Witkoff to update him on Trump’s past efforts,” Kushner said through a spokesperson.

Half a dozen sources close to Kushner said they expected him to be involved in Middle East politics in an unofficial capacity, with the aim of normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia in part of an expansion of the 2020 Abraham Accords. Kushner helped negotiate the Accords, a series of normalization agreements between Israel and Arab countries.

Kushner, Ivanka and their brother Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization’s operations, have no plans to join the new administration, according to their representatives and sources.

A source close to the transition said Trump doesn’t appear to need his family’s advice as much as he did in the past thanks to aides like Susie Wiles, who helped him run the most disciplined of his election campaigns until here.

Trump named Wiles chief of staff, a powerful position in Washington.

“Things are really simple,” the source said of Trump’s current team. “He might not need the family this time like before.”