Washington: One is a gun-loving governor who boasted about killing her puppy. The other is a former Republican rival who once described Donald Trump as a “con artist”.
Now, both seem set to be nominated by the president-elect as he continues shaping his new cabinet with loyalists to carry out his agenda.
Now President-elect Donald Trump watches as South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem dances to YMCA in Philadelphia last month.Credit: AP
One week after his decisive election victory over Kamala Harris, Trump is expected to tap South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem to head the US Department of Homeland Security, placing her at the centre of his tough-on-immigration policy.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio is expected to be named Secretary of State, making him the top diplomat to carry out Trump’s foreign policy objectives, particularly when it comes to China.
And a fellow tough-on-China politician, Mike Waltz, has been named Trump’s national security adviser, taking up the crucial post amid prolonged conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Donald Trump at a rally with Marco Rubio, who is expected to be appointed secretary of state.Credit: AP
The picks are emblematic of Trump’s desire to rapidly round out his administration with loyal allies ahead of Inauguration Day on January 20.
A post in the new cabinet would be a notable rebound for Noem, who sparked a furious backlash earlier this year when she boasted in her memoir about killing her 14-month-old dog, Cricket, claiming it had an “aggressive personality” and wasn’t particularly good at chasing down pheasants.
“I hated that dog,” South Dakota’s first female governor wrote, pointing to the experience as a measure of her ability to do “difficult, messy and ugly things”.
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She did, however, help Trump campaign against Harris, including at the bizarre town hall appearance in Pennsylvania that turned into an impromptu music festival in which Trump danced and swayed onstage for 40 minutes.
Rubio, a three-term Senator who competed against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, described him at the time as a “con artist” who wasn’t going to “make America great – he’s gonna make America orange”.
One of his most memorable moments during the primaries took place on the debate stage against Trump when he made a seemingly crude joke about the Republican’s small hands.
“Have you seen his hands? Rubio said as the crowd erupted. “And you know what they say about men with small hands … You can’t trust them.”
Donald Trump shows his hands during a Republican debate in 2016 while Marco Rubio (left), Ted Cruz and John Kasich look on.Credit: AP
But Trump had his share of insults against Rubio, too, describing him during their rivalry as “clueless”, a “choker” and a “total lightweight who I wouldn’t hire to run one of my smaller companies”.
“A highly overrated politician!” Trump added.
The pair have grown closer in recent years, even though Rubio is seen as more of an establishment figure than a MAGA acolyte. He is also a hawk on China and Iran, and while he supported Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, he has recently advocated for the conflict to end as soon as possible.
The 53-year-old is also an ardent supporter of Israel, and has already received the support of at least one Democrat in the Senate, Pennsylvania’s John Fetterman, who described him as “a strong choice”.
“I look forward to voting for his confirmation,” said Fetterman, also a strong supporter of Israel.
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Fellow Floridian Waltz was confirmed as national security adviser in a statement on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT).
“Mike has been a strong champion of my America First foreign policy agenda, and will be a tremendous champion of our pursuit of peace through strength!” Trump said.
The former colonel is a strong ally of the former president and last year warned “the era of Ukraine’s blank check from Congress is over”.
He now steps into a role that four other people churned through in Trump’s first administration. The first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, lasted 22 days before resigning amid claims he misled the administration over his communications with Russia before Trump took office.
Two others, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster and John Bolton, were eventually pushed out by Trump over their policy disagreements, while the fourth, Robert O’Brien, is among the names touted to be part of Trump’s second administration.
Trump’s latest picks come on top of a string of other appointments in recent days, including his campaign co-chair Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, former immigration boss Tom Homan as his “border tsar” and New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as UN ambassador.
Far-right nationalist Stephen Miller, Trump’s adviser in his first administration, is set to return as the deputy chief of staff for policy.
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