WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump returns to the White House, accompanied by a team of old friends and aides, as well as splashy new allies.
The Republican president-elect has barely begun appointing key figures in his administration, but he has kept a rotation of aides on and off the campaign trail in recent weeks, joining him on stage early Wednesday as he declared victory exclaimed.
Here’s a look at some key figures in Trump’s orbit as he prepares to once again occupy the White House.
Susie Wiles
For the second time, Trump has won the White House with a woman leading his campaign. Wiles, who joined his 2024 effort early, essentially served as his campaign manager and was named his new chief of staff on Thursday. She is seen as a steadfast and quiet force behind Trump’s third campaign in the White House, running a largely disciplined and ultimately winning operation.
Wiles is a longtime Republican strategist who lived in Florida and managed Trump’s campaign in the state in 2016 and 2020. Previously, she managed Rick Scott’s 2010 campaign for Florida governor and briefly managed former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman. 2012 presidential campaign.
Wiles is the daughter of late NFL player and broadcaster Pat Summerall.
Lara Trump
In both business and government, Trump has always let family members play a key role. If physical proximity is a sign of power, it’s worth noting that the person standing to Trump’s right at his victory party was Lara Trump.
She is married to Eric, the former president’s middle son, and since this spring has been Donald Trump’s chosen choice to become co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
Lara Trump, a former television producer, was a prominent campaigner for her father-in-law and was considering her own campaign in 2022, considering a run for Senate in her home state of North Carolina, before deciding against a bid.
At the RNC, she was a TV lawyer for the former president charged with boosting fundraising, expanding voter reach and the party’s “election integrity” initiative. She has also explored a sideline as a singer, releasing several songs, which sometimes contain political imagery.
Dana White
White is the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Trump’s longtime friend. They date back to 2001, when White hosted a UFC fight at the Republican’s former Trump Taj Mahal casino hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Trump has appeared with White at UFC matches over the years, especially in his 2024 campaign when he wanted to appeal to younger male voters.
White, in turn, has had speaking roles at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Republican conventions and appeared on stage at Trump’s victory party on Wednesday, even speaking briefly to the crowd.
Linda McMahon
McMahon, who is the other co-chair of the president-elect’s transition team, is a longtime friend of Trump.
She and her husband, Vince, founded World Wrestling Entertainment, growing the organization into a powerhouse. Trump has participated in a few WWE events over the years, and McMahon was one of his most generous benefactors in his 2016 campaign.
Trump tapped her to lead the Small Business Administration during his first term. She left to work on his re-election campaign and spent the years since he left office as one of the leaders of the America First Policy Institute, strategizing for another Trump term.
Howard Lutnick
Lutnick, the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, is the co-chair of Trump’s transition team and is helping to find the team that will work in the next administration.
Lutnick has donated to both Democrats and Republicans in the past, once appeared on Trump’s NBC reality show “The Apprentice” and has become part of the president-elect’s inner circle. He shared the stage with Trump at events in the final days of his campaign, including the rally at Madison Square Garden.
He was criticized in the final days of the campaign for an interview with CNN in which he debunked Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s criticisms. on vaccines repeated.
Boris Epshteyn
Epshteyn is an attorney who coordinates with Trump’s various legal teams and a longtime Trump aide who was a key surrogate in his 2016 campaign. Epshteyn briefly served as an adviser in Trump’s White House and as a political analyst in the Trump administration. screen for Sinclair Broadcast Group.
After Trump refused to accept his 2020 loss, Epshteyn worked with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani on efforts to overturn the outcome. He was accused of carrying out a scheme with Giuliani to nominate fake electors for Trump in Arizona and obstruct Congress’ certification of the results. He has pleaded not guilty to nine felony charges in Arizona related to the case.
Epshteyn also appeared at Trump’s side during his court hearings.
Stephan Molenaar
Miller was a senior adviser during Trump’s first term and has played a central figure in many of the former president’s policy decisions, most notably his decision to separate thousands of immigrant families as a deterrent program in 2018. Miller helped draft many of Trump’s tough speeches and plans. about immigration.
Since Trump left office, Miller has been president of America First Legal, an organization of former Trump advisers formed as a conservative version of the American Civil Liberties Union, which challenges the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others on issues such as freedom. of speech and religion and national security.
He is expected to play a leading role in Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and promised the largest deportation operation in American history.
Richard Grenell
Grenell is Trump’s former ambassador to Germany and former acting director of national intelligence, who has remained a key foreign policy adviser and political aide. He is expected to top Trump’s list for secretary of state.
During the campaign, Grenell played a role in events that featured Trump’s wife. Melania Trumpand the Log Cabin Republicans. He was a key mediator in Trump’s outreach to Arab Americans in Michigan and joined Trump in September when he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Grenell developed a reputation in Berlin as a pro-Trump antagonist. Trump has joked about former German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s luck in moving Grenell from his ambassadorial post to put him in the intelligence position.
Elon Musk
One of the most powerful figures in Trump’s circle is Musk, the billionaire who heads car manufacturer Tesla and rocket company SpaceX.
Musk bought Twitter in 2022 and transformed it into X, boosting conservative and far-right voices on the platform. After once supporting President Barack Obama, Musk has moved to the right and become a leading voice among American conservatives. He endorsed Trump after the Republican survived an assassination attempt in July and poured more than $119 million into backing Trump’s campaign, including a $1 million-a-day campaign for Pennsylvania voters.
Trump regularly praises Musk and tells the crowd about his awe at SpaceX’s rocket landings. Trump has said he will give Musk, a major government contractor, a role in his administration and head an efficiency commission to oversee the entire federal government.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy, an anti-vaccine activist and environmentalist, is a Democratic Party scion whose rise into Trump’s orbit was one of the surprises of the 2024 presidential campaign.
Kennedy entered the race as the Democratic nominee, left the party to run as an independent before abandoning his bid, then endorsed Trump on a promise to have an impact on health policy in a future administration.
In recent weeks he has talked about asserting control over the U.S. Department of Agriculture or gaining the power to “reorganize” federal health agencies. He has said that upon taking office, Trump would push local water systems to remove fluoride from drinking water — one of the great public health achievements of the last century — and allow him to investigate the safety of vaccines, which he has long promoted debunked theories.
Brooke Rollins
Rollins is another longtime employee seen as a potential asset in the coming administration. She is Trump’s former domestic policy chief and has served as president and CEO of the America First Policy Institute.
The America First policy flew under the radar compared to the Heritage Foundation, which led the Project 2025 initiative that Democrats often attacked, much to the chagrin of Trump’s campaign, which insisted that Project 2025 and Heritage were not speaking for it.
Rollins previously served as an aide to former Texas Governor Rick Perry and led a think tank, the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
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Associated Press writer Meg Kinnard contributed to this report.
