I’m thinking about the pattern reflected in Donald Trump’s picks for appointive office in his upcoming administration. What many have in common is that they were unexpected picks, people who probably secretly felt they had no chance of being named.
Someone wrote that Trump was looking for loyalists who wouldn’t resign and write critical books about their experience. I think that comes close to describing several of his picks. I wonder if that isn’t something he’s had success with in his private businesses? If so, that leaves out people who are widely considered to be successful in their own right.
There is also something of a pattern of giving power to people who have been done dirt by the agency they will now head or have a reputation as the agency’s critic - Kennedy at HHS, Gaetz at DOJ, Gabbard at DNI, Hegseth at DOD. They have an axe to grind that some segment of the public wants ground. Even Burgum at Interior might fit here.
As Musk would say, “It’s gonna be lit.”
