Newly elected President Donald Trump made another stampede of vacancy announcements by selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Ronald Johnson was nominated Tuesday as ambassador to Mexico, and Kimberley Guilfoyle become ambassador to Greece. Trump was also expected to select Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta as ambassador to Italy, CBS News has learned.
Ferguson, who is already one of the FTC’s five commissioners, will replace Lina Khan. who became a lightning rod for Wall Street and Silicon Valley by blocking billions of dollars worth of corporate takeovers and suing Amazon and Meta while alleging anti-competitive behavior.
“Andrew has a proven track record of resisting Big Tech censorship and protecting free speech in our great country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social, adding: “Andrew will most America First and pro-innovation FTC chairman in our country. The history of the country.”
Fertitta, the billionaire CEO of hospitality group Landry’s, Inc., is Trump’s pick for U.S. ambassador to Italy, people familiar with the decision told CBS News on Tuesday. Trump transition officials declined to comment.
Fertitta is a friend of Trump and a longtime GOP donor who heads Landry’s Inc., a Texas-based company with hotels, restaurants and casinos. He starred on a reality TV show on CNBC called “Billion Dollar Buyer” and, according to the company’s website, owns more than 600 properties in 36 states and in more than 15 countries, including the iconic Golden Nugget Casino, Morton’s The Steakhouse, the Palm Restaurant and Joe’s Crab Shack.
Fertitta joined Trump and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for a rocket launch from a spaceship in Texas in November.
Tom Barrack was chosen as candidate for ambassador to Turkey. Barrack, a wealthy financier, met Trump in the 1980s while helping negotiate Trump’s purchase of the famed Plaza Hotel. He was accused of using his personal access to the former president to secretly advance the interests of the United Arab Emirates, but was acquitted of all charges during a federal trial in 2022.
Trump called him a “respected and experienced voice of reason.”
Johnson – not the Republican senator – served as ambassador to El Salvador during Trump’s first administration. His appointment comes as the newly elected president has been threatening rates about Mexican imports and the mass deportation of migrants who have reached the US-Mexico border. Johnson is also a former veteran of the U.S. Army and worked at the Central Intelligence Agency.
Fred Ramos/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Guilfoyle is a former California prosecutor and television news personality who led fundraising for Trump’s 2020 campaign and became engaged to Don Jr. in 2020. Trump called her “a great friend and ally” and praised her “keen intellect makes her extremely qualified’. Guilfoyle was on stage with the family on election night.
“I am so proud of Kimberly. She loves America and has always wanted to serve the country as an ambassador. She will be a great leader for America First,” said Don Jr.
The ambassadorial positions must be approved by the U.S. Senate.
Guilfoyle said in a social media post that she was “honored to accept President Trump’s nomination as the next ambassador to Greece and I look forward to earning the support of the U.S. Senate.”
Trump also announced Tuesday that he had selected Jacob Helberg as the next assistant secretary of state for economic growth, energy and environment, and Dan Bishop as deputy director for budget at the Office of Budget and Management.
Khan’s replacement at the FTC likely means the commission will take a lighter touch when it comes to antitrust enforcement. The new chairman is expected to appoint new directors of the FTC’s antitrust and consumer protection divisions.
“These changes are likely to make the FTC more favorable to business than it has been in recent years, although the extent to which remains to be determined,” Anthony DiResta, a consumer protection attorney at Holland & Knight, wrote in a recent analysis.
Deals blocked by the Biden administration could find new life under Trump’s leadership.
For example, the new leadership could be more open to a proposed merger between the country’s two largest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, which struck a $24.6 billion deal to combine in 2022. Two judges stopped the merger on Tuesday evening.
The FTC had filed a lawsuit in federal court earlier this year to block the merger, claiming the deal would eliminate competition, leading to higher prices and lower wages for workers. The two companies say a merger would help them lower prices and compete with larger rivals such as Walmart.
One of the judges said the FTC had shown it was likely to win at the administrative hearing.
But given widespread public concern about high grocery prices, the Trump administration may not completely abandon the FTC’s efforts to block the deal, some experts say.
And the FTC can continue to investigate Big Tech companies for anticompetitive behavior. Many Republican politicians have accused companies like Meta of censoring conservative views, and some officials in Trump’s inner circle, most notably newly elected Vice President JD Vance, have previously expressed support for Khan’s investigation into Big Tech companies.
contributed to this report.
