Many of Trump’s most powerful friends gathered at Mar-a-Lago on Election night, prepared to get to work as he was set to return to the White House.
Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Dana White, Vivek Ramaswamy, Lara Trump, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Alina Habba, Danica Patrick, Sarah Huckabee Sanders and many more were at the ‘Winter White House’ with Trump and running mate J.D. Vance.
Perhaps the person with the most significant impact on the campaign was Tesla and X CEO Musk, who Trump has offered an official title.
Musk has put in his CV to become the director of a new ‘Office of Government Efficiency’ under a second Trump administration, said ordinary Americans would suffer some financial difficulties if his plan were enacted.
It comes after he told the roughly 20,000 attendees of Trump’s rally at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday: ‘Your money is being wasted. We’re going to get the government off your back and out of your pocket book.’
Many of Trump’s most powerful friends were at Mar-a-Lago last night, likely prepared to get to work for him as he appears set to return to the White House. Pictured: Dana White, Elon Musk and Donald Trump
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., seen with victorious Florida Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna
Howard Lutnick – chairman and CEO of financial services company Cantor Fitzgerald, who also helms the Trump 2024 Transition Team – introduced the X owner to the stage at the conclusion of his speech.
Lutnick said Musk would soon become the head of a newly-created Department of Government Efficiency, an agency whose initials spell out DOGE, the cryptocurrency Musk once promoted.
Musk’s cuts would shrink the budget by nearly a third and would be more than this year’s deficit spending.
Kennedy, a former Democrat, has been touted for various roles in the Department of Health.
Reports that the controversial former presidential candidate may be tapped for a Trump White House position have been floating around for weeks, and RFK tweeted that if appointed, he would ‘advise all US water systems to remove fluoride from public water.’
In a post on X, Kennedy, a staunch anti-vaxxer, claimed fluoride causes bone cancer, IQ loss and neurodevelopmental disorders.
In his November 2nd post on X, Kennedy said: ‘Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.’
He then linked to a video from the anti-vaccine advocate Del Bigtree.
Vivek Ramaswamy, photographed with Republican Senators Mike Lee and Tommy Tuberville
Senator Marco Rubio is photographed with the UFC Commissioner Dana White
It’s not clear if Trump supports this plan, and he has yet to publicly state if he would give Kennedy a position in his administration if he were to win.
However, the former president did say in a phone call with NBC: ‘Well, I haven’t talked to him about it yet, but it sounds OK to me.’
While the names may not come from the traditional Democratic Party structure, the likes of Kennedy and former presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard may also be tapped for roles.
Ramaswamy, a Trump favorite who ran in the Republican Primary in 2024, could be in line for many positions including Commerce Secretary, Homeland Security Secretary or the head of Health and Human Services. ‘We’re gonna bring him in,’ Trump said at an October rally.
Trump’s cabinet during his four years in the White House featured an extraordinary level of tumult.
The wealthiest cabinet in history, it was hit by a series of resignations amid investigative reports on misuse of government aircraft, pricey furniture expenditures, and other scandals.
Some members who lasted that long resigned in the wake of January 6. His last Attorney General called him unfit for office.
If Trump takes the oath of office again on January 20th, he has made clear he will bring in pro-MAGA loyalists who will implement the changes he has called for on the campaign trail.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, now the governor of Arkansas, served as Press Secretary during Trump’s first term
Trump’s famous lawyer Alina Habba poses at Mar-a-Lago
That means an Interior Secretary who will ‘frack, frack, frack,’ and an Attorney General who will shut down special counsel Jack Smith’s investigations of Trump.
Whoever fills the top foreign policy roles for Trump will face high expectations. Trump has said he could end Russia’s war on Ukraine and Israel’s war on Gaza before he takes office.
Presidents often turn to Congress to fill top agency jobs, and Trump may well be temped to look there again – although the nature of the Senate majority will be critical.
If Republicans pick up the chamber, as many experts predict they will, the size of the majority would shape whether Trump could pluck out a loyalist like Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a former Army officer mentioned as a potential Secretary of Defense.
Ben Carson ran the Department of Housing and Urban Development during Trump’s first term and has been loyal to the former president ever since.
The brain surgeon could be in line for another role in the administration if Trump is successful next week.
The U.S. election is officially too close to call after America went to the polls for one of the most consequential political contests in history – but Donald Trump has the clear advantage.
In a major boost Trump won the key battleground states of North Carolina and Georgia. He also took a string of other states including Texas, Florida and Iowa. Kamala Harris secured states including California and Colorado.
Marjorie Taylor Greene poses outside Mar-a-Lago at the Trump victory party
Lara Trump, the co-chairperson of the Republican National Committee, celebrates a likely victory
Trump soared on betting markets as the count continued and the New York Times forecast suggested a 95 percent chance of a Republican victory.
North Carolina was called for Trump by the Associated Press at 11.19pm Eastern time. Just over an hour later, it also called Georgia for Trump.
It came as Republicans were celebrating retaking control of the Senate for the first time in four years.
That gives the party important power in confirming the next president’s Cabinet, and any Supreme Court justice if there is a vacancy.
At Harris’ watch party in Washington D.C. silence descended and supporters were seen hugging as they began to contemplate possible defeat.
In a memo seen by Dailymail.com, Harris’ campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon told staff: ‘It takes time for all the votes to be counted – and all the votes will be counted. What we do know is this race is not going to come into focus until the early morning hours.’
