According to a half dozen sources familiar with his role, Donald Trump Jr. has emerged as the most influential Trump family member in the transition, as the president-elect assembles the most contentious cabinet in modern US history, elevating inexperienced loyalists over more qualified candidates for top positions in his administration.
Trump is very loyal, so he has long turned to family members for political advice. However, it is known that Trump listens to different family members at different times.
The people who know Don Jr. best say that he has helped cabinet candidates fall or rise, such as Senator JD Vance become Trump’s running mate and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from joining the cabinet. These people are donors, personal friends, and political allies.
Don Jr. is going to join the conservative venture capital fund 1789 Capital, but one of the sources said he will still host his podcast about politics and back candidates who support Trump’s political views.
The source also said that he will give his father advice in the White House, but they warned that Don Jr. probably will not be involved in day-to-day decisions.
A request for comment was sent to Don Jr. and the Trump-Vance transition team, but they did not respond.
Some sources say that Don Jr. looks for candidates who are loyal to his father and also have an anti-establishment view, such as those who support protectionist economic policies and fewer military interventions and foreign aid. Don Jr. has also said this in public and on the social media site X.
Trump wants to name Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the top U.S. health official, and he also wants to name Tulsi Gabbard as the head of intelligence. Both of these candidates, who Don Jr. backed, may have a rough time getting confirmed by the Senate.
Kennedy is an activist for the environment who has spread false information about vaccines. Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman, said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had good reasons to invade Ukraine.
She caused a stir when she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2017, when he was killing protesters.
Influential ā to a point
Another big thing Don Jr. did was help his dad get his close friend Vance to be Trump’s running mate.
Vance was liked by Trump’s supporters, but some donors and supporters were wary of him because he spoke out against corporations, was against giving Ukraine aid, and had called some Democratic women “childless cat ladies” in the past.
One of the sources also said that Trump was happy with Vance in the end, which gave Don Jr. more political power as an adviser during the transition.
Not every person Don Jr. chose has gotten a job.
A different person who knows about the situation says that he wanted Ric Grenell, a personal friend and former ambassador to Germany, to become secretary of state.
In the end, his dad chose Senator Marco Rubio, whose views are seen as too traditional and internationalist by Trump’s core supporters.
Two people who are close to Don Jr. said that he does not have a say in all appointments and that he does not work full time at Mar-a-Lago or on the transition process.
One person close to him said that he will not have a big part in screening people for lower-level jobs either.
Don Jr. told Fox News earlier this month, “This time, we really do know what we are doing.” “And it is about surrounding my father with people who are both competent and loyal.”
Following in his sister’s footsteps
Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner were very involved in his campaign for president in 2016, the transition that followed, and his first term.
This time, they are not doing nearly as much. However, Kushner, who used to be Trump’s Middle East-focused senior adviser, told Reuters that he is teaching real estate investor Steve Witkoff about his new job as special envoy to the region.
Through a spokesperson, Kushner said, “I have been working with Witkoff to bring him up to speed on Trump’s past work.”
Six people close to Kushner said they think he will be involved in Middle Eastern policy in an unofficial way. The goal is to improve relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as part of an expansion of the 2020 Abraham Accords.
Kushner helped make the accords, which are a set of agreements between Israel and Arab countries to get along again.
Sources and Kushner, Ivanka, and Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization business with his brother, say that they have no plans to join the new administration.
Trump does not seem to need his family for advice as much as he used to, according to a person close to the transition. This is because of aides like Susie Wiles, who helped run Trump’s most organized election campaign to date.
Trump has made Wiles his chief of staff, which is a very important job in Washington.
“Things are really locked down,” the source said of Trump’s team right now. “He may not need the family this time like he used to.”