Even though he has the Republican nomination essentially sewn up, former President Donald Trump has a few months before he’ll need to disclose key picks for a second Trump administration, such as his running mate and those he’d select for his cabinet.
Nevertheless, Trump appears to be giving consideration to those critical picks and already has several in mind, according to a new report.
🟡NEW: Trump eyeing Sens. Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, Bill Hagerty for top natsec positions, @jaysolomon reports https://t.co/kQlDYjZ9Vv
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) March 19, 2024
While the names don’t necessarily come as a huge surprise — particularly in the national security context — they’re relatively new to the mix in terms of cabinet rumors.
Donald Trump is eyeing three Republican senators — Bill Hagerty, Tom Cotton and Marco Rubio — for key national security posts if he wins the White House in November, people close to the Trump campaign told Semafor.
The conservative lawmakers are all prominent hawks on China and Iran and supporters of increased U.S. spending on defense and border security. Trump sees the politicians as potentially partnering with cabinet members and advisors from his first term to create a more unified national security team from day one, these people said.
Rubio (R-FL) serves on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Hagerty (R-TN), who previously served as Trump’s ambassador to Japan, also serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. Cotton (R-AR) serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and, like Rubio, on the Select Committee on Intelligence.
The report sets out some of the rationale for the three to garner key positions in a future Trump administration:
None of the three senators were initially major Trump boosters, and Marco Rubio ran against him in 2016. But these politicians largely supported Trump’s major foreign policy and domestic security initiatives while he was in office. These included his confrontational approaches towards China and Iran and his diplomatic push to build a Middle East security bloc through alliances between Israel and key Arab states.
In recent months, Senators Hagerty, Cotton and Rubio have also backed Trump’s public skepticism towards funding Ukraine. Aid for the country is emerging as among the most divisive foreign policy issues in the 2024 campaign. And European nations and NATO members are increasingly concerned that Trump could completely pull support for Kiev.
The idea is to gather a strong, cohesive foreign policy team — one that will undoubtedly have its work cut out for it in light of the numerous foreign threats and concerns facing the nation.
“I think you’ll see a much much more cohesive and strategic foreign policy team” if Trump wins in November, a person briefed on the candidate’s plans told Semafor.
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