Trump's Cabinet: A Nightmare of Clowns and Criminals
Yeah, this is even worse than I imagined.
Well, it has all started again…
Donald Trump has started to select his choices for critical cabinet decisions, and it is somehow more horrifying than imaginable.
After nine years of this, I thought I had trained myself never to be caught off guard by the insanity that Donald Trump can unleash on our country. Then Matt Gaetz was selected as Attorney General, Tulsi Gabbard was selected as Director of National Security, and RFK Jr. was given control of HHS.
Criminals, traitors, and conspiracy theorists. Welcome to Donald Trump’s administration.
This would all be funny and entertaining if it wasn’t so dangerous. Robert Reich’s recent Substack summarized how these selections are a clear sign that Trump is determined to turn America into a police state.
“The most powerful levers of control in the United States government are found in the six positions where intelligence-gathering and brute force overlap — the Secretary of Defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of Homeland Security, Attorney General, Director of the CIA, and Director of National Intelligence.”
Donald Trump’s choices for these positions:
Defense Secretary: Pete Hegseth, a Fox News TV host
Attorney General: Matt Gaetz, an accused sex trafficker.
Secretary of Homeland Security: Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota.
Director of National Intelligence: Tulsi Gabbard, a suspected Russian asset.
Director of the CIA: John Ratcliffe, a former Republican member of Congress.
None of these choices have any experience, expertise, or qualifications for the jobs. However, they all have demonstrated blind loyalty to Donald Trump.
Combined, these individuals represent the cross-section of information gathering and government force. Blind Trump loyalists in these positions are the clearest sign that the fears of Trump fascism and authoritarianism were warranted. If Trump intends to go after “the enemies within” and his political opponents, this is exactly how he would do it.
Let’s dive a little deeper into some of the scariest choices:
Attorney General: Matt Gaetz
The Attorney General is the most important cabinet position. It wields incredible power over the American people. If Matt Gaetz is confirmed, he would oversee the same department that just spent a year investigating him for alleged sex trafficking crimes.
Gaetz is currently under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for the same sexual misconduct charges. An investigation that just went away due to Gaetz resigning from Congress yesterday.
Let’s be very clear here. Matt Gaetz has been accused of having sex with a 17-year-old and trafficking her across state lines. Someone not allowed to be near a school shouldn’t run the justice department.
Some think Trump is playing some sort of political game and doesn’t intend on making Gaetz Attorney General. We can dispel that myth now. Mark Caputo, writing for the Bulwark, reported the following:
“None of the attorneys had what Trump wants, and they didn’t talk like Gaetz,” the adviser said. “Everyone else looked at AG as if they were applying for a judicial appointment. They talked about their vaunted legal theories and constitutional bullshit. Gaetz was the only one who said, ‘Yeah, I’ll go over there and start cuttin’ fuckin’ heads.”
If the Senate doesn’t confirm him, don’t be surprised if Trump uses a recess appointment to place Matt Gaetz as Attorney General.
Director of National Security: Tulsi Gabbard
Former Democratic congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard has praised Vladimir Putin, Bashar Al-Assad and blamed the United States for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She has a long history of siding with America’s enemies, so naturally, Donald Trump has chosen her to run our national security apparatus.
Here is a list of reasons to be very afraid of Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Security:
She was the only Democrat to vote against a non-binding resolution on holding Assad accountable for his crimes against humanity.
She introduced a bill called the “Stop Arming Terrorist Act” which was aimed at withdrawing U.S. military support for the Syrian rebels fighting Assad and Putin.
Her only break with Trump came in 2017, after Trump launched a missile strike on Syria.
Russian cyber assets backed her 2020 presidential run.
She defended the Russian invasion of Ukraine, blaming the Biden administration for forcing Russia’s hand.
She has opposed sanctions on Russia.
So, to summarize. Tulsi Gabbard opposes U.S. military intervention AND U.S. imposed sanctions. She is not opposed to the Syrian dictator gassing civilians.
If confirmed, Gabbard would become the nation’s chief spymaster. She would be in charge of the CIA, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, National Security Council, and Homeland Security Council for intelligence matters. She would be in charge of all sources of information coming into the U.S. government.
Appointing her to this position is reckless, will embolden our enemies, and make all Americans less safe.
Health Secretary: RFK Jr.
The Health Secretary is not part of this intelligence and force triad, but the appointment of RFK Jr. directly threatens the lives of Americans. To put it bluntly, people are going to die because of this.
I’m trying not to be hyperbolic, but it is hard to come to a different conclusion. Just Google “RFK Jr, Samoa, and Measles.” You’ll learn about a tragic story, in which RFK Jr. and his anti-vax organization spread misinformation about vaccines on the Pacific island of Samoa, which led to a dramatic decline in vaccination rates. This resulted in the deaths of 83 people, mostly children.
There is a clear record of RFK Jr’s anti-vaccine rhetoric leading to a decline in vaccination rates and an increase in preventable deaths.
Now, RFK Jr. will be in charge of the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Institutes of Health. These agencies directly impact the health of Americans, and if RFK Jr. turns his conspiracies into policies, we may see vaccine mandates disappear, food inspection compromised, and the development of new medicines delayed.
What Can We Do?:
Maybe Senate Republicans will show rare moral courage and stop some of these nominees. But even if that happens, Donald Trump can use recess appointments to confirm them. So, it is more than likely that a majority of these appointments will go through.
We need to hope that Donald Trump pays a political price, and I think there is one to be had.
These selections indicate that Donald Trump has misread the election results. Despite all the rhetoric, Donald Trump does not have a clear mandate to do whatever he wants. The American people did not vote for MAGA 2.0. They voted for lower groceries, affordable housing, and cheaper living costs.
Consider this:
Donald Trump overperformed his approval rating by 8 points. This means 8% of the people who voted for Donald Trump do not like Donald Trump. Considering the popular vote swung about 6%, and the swing states shifted only 2.1%, that 8% is more than the difference between winning and losing. That 8% does not want crazy, chaotic Trump.
Donald Trump’s popular vote margin will be the smallest since 2000. Less than Hilary Clinton’s 2016 popular vote victory when she lost the electoral college.
The data doesn’t support a clear Trump mandate, and if he overplays his hand, driving America into a MAGA circus, he will suffer politically for that.
So, how should we be talking about this?
We need to focus not on the process of these appointments but on their impact on people’s lives. The messaging of defending democracy isn’t working. People don’t want to protect these institutions. Instead, we should focus on how these selections make us less safe.
It’s unclear exactly how that will play out. We will need to see what policies RFK Jr. implements at HHS, how Matt Gaetz uses his power to target Americans, and if our allies stop sharing information with us because they don’t trust Tulsi Gabbard.
Focusing on impact over protecting the institutions will be critical if we want to make sure that Donald Trump pays a political price for this recklessness.
Targeting each of Trump’s cabinet picks individually could accidentally weaken our message, fragmenting focus and exhausting resources.
Instead, let's identify the best overarching theme—emphasizing ethics, qualifications, or conflicts of interest—unifies opposition, simplifies public relations, and resonates more effectively.
This consistent approach keeps media coverage and public leader messaging cohesive, prevents "opposition fatigue," and appeals to broader audiences, including independents. A unified message helps advocacy groups mobilize support, avoid reactionary tactics, and sustain public engagement, making it a strategic and impactful alternative.
It is on us. We can not wait on the political consultants and current political leaders whose strategies failed us.