What a difference 8 years makes.
Donald Trump has announced his cabinet nominations and senior staff at breakneck speed, revealing more than 50 picks in the first month since the election. Despite a small stumble, Trump rolled out his team of reformers to perfection. Perhaps the onslaught has prevented the media from attempting to pick everyone apart, but they may not be able to. There is no denying the experience and professionalism of his nominees.
As everything with Trump, there’s always something at least a little provocative and unorthodox in what he does. But here, the message is clear: he will have a team of reformers dead set on implementing his agenda and fixing some of America’s deepest problems.
First and foremost will be the economy, and his nominees are deep and experienced. With Scott Bessent at Treasury, Howard Lutnik at Commerce, Jameison Greer at USTR, and adding in Chris Wright at Energy, they will likely move to attack the inflation that is dragging down so many American families.
And then there is the border and national security. With Tom Homan as Border Czar, Rodney Scott at CBP, Gov. Noem at DHS, and Senator Rubio at State, he’ll have a team willing to use all the diplomatic and security levers to close the border and make it even stronger than it was in his first term.
Of course, DOGE is getting all the headlines. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy like doing tough things and there is nothing more difficult than cutting spending in Washington. God speed.
So far, the public seems to agree with the picks. According to Scott Rasmussen, 53% of Americans approve of the way Trump is managing the transition, with 43% who disagree. But the nominations are just the first step. There’s a long way to go to get dozens of nominees through Senate confirmation and Democrats will be looking to get at least a few “scalps.”
They’ll criticize the nominees for not being creatures of Washington and attempting to shake things up. But that’s exactly what Trump wants and the country needs.
This commentary is published on Thursdays as part of TPPF’s subscriber-only newsletter The Post. If you would like to subscribe to The Post, click here.