elections icon US Elections 2024 TRENDING NOW Lebanon-Israel conflict Gaza War 2023-2024 US elections Donald Trump COP29 Breadcrumb News World Trump rewards Musk with government efficiency role, shapes up administration team Trump names ally Elon Musk as head of a government efficiency group, alongside a number of hardline, pro-Israeli figures as members of his administration. World 4 min read The New Arab Staff & Agencies 13 November, 2024 Share Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp X Facebook Elon Musk emerged as a leading ally and supporter of Donald Trump, donating millions to his presidential campaign [Getty/file photo] Donald Trump announced Tuesday that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, will lead a new US government efficiency group tasked with cutting federal waste.

Trump said Musk and another stalwart ally, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, would lead a “Department of Government Efficiency (‘DOGE’)” a tongue-in-cheek reference to an internet meme and cryptocurrency. “Together, these two wonderful Americans will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle Government Bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies,” Trump said in a statement. He said the department “will provide advice and guidance from outside of Government,” a move that could allow Musk to avoid disclosing his financial holdings.

Trump separately named congressman Mike Waltz, a former special forces officer, as his incoming national security advisor. Waltz has hawkish views on China but is not considered isolationist, despite desire in some Trump circles for the United States to retreat from foreign engagements and cut obligations to allies like NATO. Trump also announced he was choosing his former director of national intelligence John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. On the domestic front, Trump has signaled he will support his extreme election campaign rhetoric aimed at stirring fear and anger against illegal immigrants ahead of promised mass deportations.

He has appointed South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem as Secretary of Homeland Security, seasoned hardline immigration official Tom Homan as “border czar,” and Stephen Miller, the author of Trump’s so-called “Muslim ban” immigration policy, as his powerful deputy chief of staff. Trump has also appointed Lee Zeldin to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, with a purpose to reduce climate and pollution restrictions. Trump’s transition team said that New York congresswoman Elise Stefanik, a staunch Trump supporter and pro-Israeli, has been named UN ambassador. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, another staunch pro-Israel supporter, was chosen ambassador to Israel. Return to the Oval. Biden’s Oval Office invitation reinstates a presidential transition tradition that Trump rejected when he lost the 2020 election, refusinBy the time Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021, he had also been repudiated by many in his own party for having encouraged a mob to assault the US Capitol. The period of disgrace soon evaporated, however, as Republicans returned to Trump’s side, recognising his unique electoral force leading the far-right movement that has now swept him back to power. While many of his cabinet nominations require approval by the Senate, Trump is trying to bypass that oversight by forcing through so-called recess appointmentsg to sit down.

By the time Trump left the White House on January 20, 2021, he had also been repudiated by many in his own party for having encouraged a mob to assault the US Capitol. The period of disgrace soon evaporated, however, as Republicans returned to Trump’s side, recognising his unique electoral force leading the far-right movement that has now swept him back to power. While many of his cabinet nominations require approval by the Senate, Trump is trying to bypass that oversight by forcing through so-called recess appointments