Drawn to yes men and women - analysts believe Trump is choosing loyalty over competence to curate his team of 'outsiders'
Donald Trump is taking a sledgehammer to American governance at home and overseas and surrounding himself with an inner circle of “disruptors and innovators”.
It sounds like something out of the Dominic Cummings playbook – and to an extent it is – where Cummings was focused on shaking up central government and breaking the civil service’s stranglehold over policy, Elon Musk is taking his metaphorical chainsaw to government budgets and red tape.
Since his inauguration, Trump has cut support to Ukraine and suggested a closer alignment with Russia, closed down government departments and fired civil servants and imposed tariffs on key US trading partners.
But he isn’t acting alone. As the world reels from a series of shocks out of the White House, The i Paper looks at some of the colourful characters who have the president’s ear.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 20: (L-R) Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), President Trump???s nominee for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Kash Patel, President Trump's nominee for FBI Director and Pete Hegseth, President Trump's nominee for Secretary of Defense and Linda McMahon, President Trump's nominee for Education Secretary depart inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. Donald Trump takes office for his second term as the 47th president of the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
(L-R) Former Rep. Lee Zeldin, Kash Patel, Pete Hegseth and Linda McMahon during the inauguration (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Elon Musk and his ‘shadow government’
The Tesla founder has become a leading actor in Trump’s team, after donating at least a quarter of a million dollars to his campaign.
Musk heads up the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) – sharing its name with the cryptocurrency he has promoted born out of a meme – and has been tasked with rooting out waste.
The world’s richest man, Musk has led the deconstruction of the US’s foreign aid department which supports development in some of the world’s poorest countries – a move many lawmakers believe is unconstitutional.
Musk has also caused controversy in the UK – accusing Keir Starmer – falsely – of being “complicit” in child grooming in the UK and calling Home Office minister Jess Phillips a “rape genocide apologist”.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 5: White House Senior Advisor to the President and Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk departs the U.S. Capitol Building on March 5, 2025 in Washington, DC. Musk was meeting with Republican senators at a closed door lunch. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is one of the President’s inner circle. (Photo: Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
In his new position, Musk has appointed a group of young tech industry workers, aged between 19 to 25 years old, to help him, many of whom have no government experience and one of which is reportedly still in college.
One has already resigned after the White House was asked about his link to racist social media posts, including those supporting eugenics and repealing of civil rights.
Following the appointments, Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer, claimed that an “unelected shadow government is conducting a hostile takeover of the federal government”.
Professor Natasha Lindstaedt, a democracy expert at the University of Essex, said that Trump’s relationship with Musk will almost certainly lead to a falling out between the pair, who are both big personalities with their own status and ideas.
“Trump is so incredibly transactional, he thinks Musk is going to help him. Yes he has expertise, but not in government. He seems to want to do to the government what he did to Twitter, but that hasn’t gone well, with vast drop in ad revenue,” she said.
“Musk and Trump will have a falling out, I would expect by the end of the year. I wouldn’t have predicted this as an alliance, and it can’t last.”
Natalie Harp
One of Trump’s closest aides is 33-year-old Natalie Harp, who allegedly sparked security concerns because of her intense relationship with the President.
Harp wrote letters of adoration to Trump – including one where she reportedly said the politician was “all that matters to me” – which were obtained by his security detail, who noted “the strangeness of her behaviour”, according to a new book by Fire and Fury writer Michael Wolff.
“Even the Secret Service had now weighed in: Natalie was a security consideration. But no one was going to tell Trump that,” the American journalist wrote.
Harp survived stage two bone cancer – something she credits to Trump’s 2018 Right to Try law which allows terminally ill patients to access drug treatments that have not yet been fully approved.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 30: Natalie Harp listens as former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks outside of the courtroom during his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 30, 2024 in New York City. Former U.S. President Donald Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. (Photo by Curtis Means-Pool/Getty Images)
Natalie Harp has written Trump letters of adoration including telling him he is ‘all that matters to me’ (Photo: Curtis Means/Pool/Getty)
During the campaign, Harp set up a “mobile office” for Trump, including carrying around a mobile printer, and she remained by his side during various court appearances.
Republican Senator John Barrasso described her as an “extra set of eyes and ears for President Trump” who is always “close at hand”, while Republican Lindsey Graham said he goes to Harp to set up anything from “golf to the most sensitive foreign policy matters”.
Why has Trump chosen his inner circle?
After first administration, he doesn’t want to be challenged
Dr David Andersen, associate professor in US Politics at Durham University, said that when Trump unexpectedly won the presidency in 2016 “he had no preparation for how he would govern and no plan for what he would do” and the GOP “stepped in and wrapped him in layers of experienced policy experts who would enact traditional Republican policies”.
“As Trump tried to govern in his own style, these people largely obstructed him. There are great stories about how his staff used to steal papers off his desk or purposefully distract him so he would lose his train of thought,” Dr Andersen said.
“By the mid-point in this term he figured out that his staff were not loyal to him, they were loyal to the party and its traditional stances. He started purging them but never really put together a team to support him.”
Now in his second administration, Trump “wants to govern as he sees fit”.
“He does not want anyone who has any policy preferences, or expertise, or any thoughts of their own around him,” Dr Andersen said.
“He wants to be in charge of everything and make all his own decisions without advice because he believes that he alone can solve problems.”
Prioritises attention over governance
Trump is “unusually as a political figure in that he doesn’t really have policy preferences or a specific agenda”, Dr Andersen said, but simply wants to be “seen as powerful and great”.
A former TV star, Trump is “obsessed with TV ratings” gravitates attractive and controversial individuals who attract large television audiences, Dr Andersen said.
“For Trump, popularity is the metric that matters, not public policy success or accuracy or truth,” he said.
*** BESTPIX *** WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 04: U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump was expected to address Congress on his early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty)
Emboldened by mandate and courts
Professor Gina Yannitell Reinhardt of the University of Essex’s department of Government, said Trump “believes he can act with impunity after the Supreme Court ruled that presidents can’t be held accountable for crimes they commit while in office”.
“He also has a greater mandate this time [having won the popular vote] and was arguably more honest about his intentions this time around, saying he would be a “dictator on day one”, so he feels completely justified,” she said.
Better connected
“The first time around, Trump didn’t know a lot of people. It was easy to come in after Obama and let top operatives stay. But now he knows other people he wants in these posts, many of whom have ingratiated themselves with him over time,” Professor Reinhardt said.
“It’s easier for him to work with these people; he knows they won’t speak out against him, won’t make a gaff, and will do what he says.”
Deliberately choses outsiders
Professor Reinhardt said that Trump’s selection of “outsiders” fits his anti-establishment image.
“It’s also possible that some people who are experts were not willing to take jobs they were offered,” she added.
‘Dictator-style’ approach to governing
Professor Lindstaedt said that Trump has chosen “loyalty over competence” and compared his governing approach to that of Vladimir Putin.
“This is common across personalistic-style dictactorships. Putin also got rid of competent generals and prioritised loyalty over expertise,” she said.
“These figures don’t want anyone to outshine them, or threaten them. They expect ‘yes men’ who give them glowing reviews and share a similar world view.
“This is incredibly concerning. These types of dictatorships tend to perform badly in conflict because they get bad information from people telling them what they want to hear.”
Money
One senior Democratic staffer said that it “doesn’t matter who Trump is supposedly getting advice from because he only listens to himself”.
“When looking at his team, the only thing that matters is who is profiting from the decisions he’s making,” he said, warning that Musk’s companies stood to benefit significantly from his proximity to Trump.
“The extremist ideology and agenda is harmful, but it’s secondary for the Trump administration to their agenda to make as much money as possible from their positions in government.”
Karoline Leavitt
Since taking up her role as the youngest ever White House Press Secretary, 27-year-old Karoline Leavitt has already claimed former President Joe Biden oversaw a “four-year-long invasion of illegal aliens”, described climate policy as the “green new scam” and said that 50 million taxpayer dollars were spent on “condoms in Gaza”.
In the same briefing, Leavitt also pledged Trump’s support for cutting funding to “illegal” diversity and inclusion policies and “transgenderism and wokeness”.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 05: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily White House press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on March 05, 2025 in Washington, DC. During the briefing, Leavitt spoke about points made in the U.S. President Donald Trump's joint address to Congress and about the president's administration imposed tariffs on Canada and Mexico. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Leavitt has called the climate crisis the ‘green new scam’ (Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Gett)
Leavitt intern studied communications and political science at Saint Anselm College, a Catholic college in her home state of New Hampshire, interning at Fox News and in Trump’s White House while still studying, and once ran for Congress.
She worked as Trump’s election campaign spokesperson and served in the White House press office during his first term.
Pete Hegseth
Trump’s new Defence Secretary has triggered security concerns over a series of tattoos which have been linked to far right symbolism.
In 2021, when he was serving in the armed forces, Hegseth was flagged by a fellow service member as a possible insider threat by a fellow service member due to a tattoo on his bicep reading ‘Deus Vult’ which has been associated with white supremacist groups.
He was also pulled from a position guarding Joe Biden’s inauguration over a tattoo on his chest.
Hegseth has defended rioters who attacked the US Capitol that year, saying they were “people who love our country” who had “been re-awoken to the reality of what the left has done” to the US.
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 04: U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth leaves the House chamber after U.S. President Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump was expected to address Congress on his early achievements of his presidency and his upcoming legislative agenda. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)
Hegseth has faced sex assault allegations as well as being accused of having far right sympathies (Photo: Kayla Bartkowski/Getty)
Hegseth has faced accusations of sexual assault – which he denied – and made a $50,000 settlement to a woman who accused him in 2017 of sexually assaulting her.
Hegseth has also been accused of being repeatedly drunk at work, according to the New Yorker, acknowledging during his Senate confirmation hearings that he was “not a perfect person” but claiming he has quit drinking.
The new head of the US defence has previously said he does not believe women should have combat roles, that the military has become “effiminate” by promoting diversity and inclusion and vowed to fire generals involved in “woke” programs.
Hegseth has also been criticised for being too inexperienced to lead the three-million-person defence department, including by senior Republican Mitch McConnell.
The former Fox News host served in the military for almost 20 years, up to the rank of major, but has never held political office.
Kash Patel
Trump’s pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, has repeatedly criticised the FBI in recent years, saying one podcast that he would shut down FBI headquarters on day one and reopen it as a “museum of the deep state”.
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel denied keeping a list of “deep state enemies”.
A list appears as an appendix at the end of Patel’s 2023 book, Government Gangsters and names more than 50 current or former US officials that he claims are “members of the Executive Branch deep state” and a “threat to democracy”.
FBI Director Kash Patel gestures as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
During his Senate confirmation hearing, Patel denied keeping a list of ‘deep state enemies’
(Photo: Ben Curtis/AP)
One individual on the list moved out of their home before Patel’s confirmation to the FBI out of fear of repercussions, according to CNN.
Patel was the former chief of staff to the Acting Secretary of Defence, Deputy Assistant at the National Security Council and Principal Deputy to the Acting Director of National Intelligence.
Tom Homan
Trump’s “border czar” has accused the Democrats of having deliberately worked to “unsecure the border” for their own gain – and the UN of being in cahoots.
In an interview with media personality Tucker Carlson, Homan accused the Democrats of permitting – or encouraging – illegal migration for their “future political benefit”, saying that “they think these people will be future Democratic voters”.
White House border czar Tom Homan speaks to reporters at the White House, Tuesday, March 4, 2025, in Washngton. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Homan has accused the UN of being in cahoots with the Democrats over immigration
(Photo: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
“Certainly the United Nations were south of our border, working on this global illegal immigration to the United States,” he added.
“This was by design. Do I think Joe Biden had the expertise to do it? No, I think someone’s pulling his strings.”
The former head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement contributed to Project 2025, the blueprint for Trump’s second term.
Robert F Kennedy
Trump’s Secretary of Health is anti-vaccine activist Robert F Kennedy Jr.
The son of the late senator Robert F Kennedy and the nephew of President John F Kennedy, and a former Democrat, Kennedy ran as an independent in this year’s presidential race before striking a deal with Trump in exchange for pulling out.
In a 2023 podcast interview he said that: “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and told Fox News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism.
The World Health Organisation estimates that global immunisation efforts have saved at least 154 million lives in the past 50 years.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 29: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., nominee to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies in front of the Senate Finance Committee in Washington, DC on January 29, 2025. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr said ‘there is no vaccine that is safe and effective’
(Photo: Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty)
Kennedy also opposes genetically modified organisms (GMOs), which are not common in the UK and Europe but are widespread in the US.
The scientific consensus is that GMO plants have no inherent risks.
Kennedy claims that water fluoridation – added to some water supplies to strengthen teeth – can cause cancer, although the evidence on this is weak, according to our science writer Clare Wilson.
The new Health Secretary also wants raw milk to be legal across the US, something doctors are concerned by its possible health risks.
Less controversially, he opposes the expansion of ultra-processed foods, food additives and pesticide use in farming.
Linda McMahon
The former head of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has been selected by Trump as Education Secretary.
Unusually, her only experience in the field was serving on Connecticut’s State Board of Education for about a year and being a private university trustee, before she led the US Small Business Administration for two years during Trump’s first term.
SWANNANOA, NC - SEPTEMBER 12: President Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, right, listens as 25th Administrator of the US Small Business Administration, Linda McMahon, left, speak during a press conference as President Trump visited Swannanoa to see the devastation of Hurricane Helene first-hand and make remarks to the press on October 21, 2024. Several dozens of residents lined a portion of the highway to attempt to get a glimpse of the President.
Linda McMahon speaks during a press conference with Donald Trump in 2024 (Photo: Getty)
McMahon opposes “political indoctrination in classrooms,” according to the think tank she worked at, and opposes “one-size-fits-all education models”.
Her primary role will likely be to dismantle the Department of Education she has been tasked with leading, one of Trump’s key policy goals, something she described as a “momentous final mission” in a speech to staff this week.
Kristi Noem
Trump’s pick for Homeland Security Secretary is former South Dakota governor Kristi Noem, who will oversee the US’s border control, airline transportation and responding to natural disasters.
While an experienced politician – she was South Dakota’s congressional representative for eight years before becoming governor – she is best known for the bizarre admission that she killed her own dog, detailing the story in grizzly detail in her own memoirs.
Noem also refused to impose a statewide mask mandate during the Covid pandemic.
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 25: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (C) attends the Troy Edgar's confirmation hearing to be the next Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on February 25, 2025 in Washington, DC. Noem briefly attended the confirmation hearing. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Noem is best known for detailing how she killed her dog in her memoirs
(Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Chris Wright
Trump’s new Energy Secretary is fracking CEO Chris Wright, who has been labelled a climate sceptic.
In 2023, he posted a video saying that there “is no climate crisis, and we’re not in the midst of an energy transition, either”.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks with reporters at the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Climate sceptic and new Energy Secretary Chris Wright (Photo: AP/Alex Brandon)
Wright has acknowledged the existence of manmade climate change, but in a report last year wrote that the hazards of climate change are “distant and uncertain”, has called green activists “alarmist” and has reportedly disputed the link between wildfires and climate change.