President-elect Donald Trump is continuing to rapidly build out his next administration, nominating his former acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, to be the U.S. ambassador to NATO.<\/p>\n
\u201cMatt is a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States\u2019 interests are advanced and defended,\u201d Trump said in a statement. \u201cMatt will strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability \u2013 He will put AMERICA FIRST.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump has consistently criticized NATO member countries for insufficient defense spending, correctly arguing that the U.S. bears an outsized burden while many European allies fail to contribute their fair share. His choice for ambassador is expected to champion this stance, which is likely to raise some concerns among NATO allies across the Atlantic.<\/p>\n
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday named Matt Whitaker, a former acting attorney general from his first presidency, as the U.S. ambassador to NATO, the cornerstone Western military alliance whose member countries Trump has criticized for not spending enough money on\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/7eB3KVNLjj<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Voice of America (@VOANews) November 21, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n\n The president-elect has wasted no time in naming who he wants to appoint to various positions within his next administration after he\u2019s sworn in on Jan. 20. Per CBS News, here is a list of nominations thus far:<\/p>\n White House chief of staff: Susie Wiles Most of those nominees will have to be approved by the Senate. Meanwhile, Republicans are holding on to a small majority in the House, though reports Wednesday said Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur claimed victory<\/a>, securing her 22nd term in the U.S. House of Representatives after a tightly contested race in Ohio\u2019s 9th Congressional District.<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u00a0called<\/a>\u00a0the race at 1:02 p.m. EST, declaring Kaptur the winner over Republican state Rep. Derek Merrin. With nearly all precincts reporting, Kaptur edged out Merrin with 48.27% of the vote to his 47.63%, a margin of just 2,382 votes.<\/p>\n Libertarian candidate Tom Pruss drew approximately 4% of the vote, further narrowing the competition but more than likely taking votes away from Merrin.<\/p>\n As the longest-serving woman in House history, Kaptur celebrated her victory in a district significantly reshaped by recent redistricting, making it one of the most competitive in the country. Her re-election preserves a Democratic hold on the seat, even as Republicans strengthen their majority in the House.<\/p>\n Derek Merrin, a fourth-term state representative and a strong ally of President-elect Donald Trump, mounted a formidable challenge in a campaign defined by sharp contrasts. With the race now settled, Democrats hold 213 seats in the House, while Republicans, bolstered by gains in other districts, have secured a narrow majority with 218 seats.<\/p>\n At 78, Kaptur was regarded as one of the most vulnerable incumbents in this year\u2019s congressional races. Her campaign for Ohio\u2019s 9th Congressional District was among the most expensive, with total spending surpassing $23 million, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization monitoring campaign finances.<\/p>\n The post Trump Shakes Things Up With Big Addition To His Team<\/a> appeared first on Conservative Brief<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President-elect Donald Trump is continuing to rapidly build out his next administration, nominating his former acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, to be the U.S. ambassador to NATO. \u201cMatt is a strong warrior and loyal Patriot, who will ensure the United States\u2019 interests are advanced and defended,\u201d Trump said in a statement. \u201cMatt will strengthen relationships…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[136],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5231\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/topproductsonly.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSecretary of State: Marco Rubio
\nAttorney General: Matt Gaetz
\nDeputy attorney general: Todd Blanche
\nHHS secretary: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
\nOffice of Management and Budget Director: Russ Vought
\nU.N. ambassador: Elise Stefanik
\n\u201cBorder czar\u201d: Tom Homan
\nDefense Secretary: Pete Hegseth
\nSecretary of Veterans Affairs: Doug Collins
\nNational security adviser: Michael Waltz
\nInterior Secretary: Doug Burgum
\nSecretary of Energy: Chris Wright
\nSecretary of Transportation: Sean Duffy
\nSecretary of Commerce: Howard Lutnick
\nSecretary of Education: Linda McMahon
\nWhite House counsel: William McGinley
\nU.S. Ambassador to NATO: Matthew Whitaker
\nSecretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem
\nCIA director: John Ratcliffe
\nDirector of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard
\nEPA administrator: Lee Zeldin
\nSolicitor general: Dean John Sauer
\nFCC chairman: Brendan Carr
\nCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator: Dr. Mehmet Oz
\nU.S. Ambassador to Israel: Mike Huckabee
\nU.S. ambassador to Canada: Pete Hoekstra
\nU.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York: Jay Clayton
\nDepartment of Government Efficiency: Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy
\nDeputy chief of staff: Dan Scavino
\nDeputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser: Stephen Miller
\nDeputy chief of staff for Legislative, political and public affairs: James Blair
\nDeputy chief of staff for communications and personnel: Taylor Budowich
\nPresidential Personnel Office head: Sergio Gor
\nWhite House communications director: Steven Cheung
\nWhite House press secretary: Karoline Leavitt<\/p>\n