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11 12 24 Politico Defense Reporter Jack Detsch on the Trump potential cabinet picks
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Rubio may bring some more traditional GOP views into Trump's foreign policy orbit. The Florida Republican also championing maintaining alliances such as NATO and as strong hawkish views on US votes. The potential Rubio appointment at other Trump administration moves. We catch up now with Defense and Pentagon reporter for Politico. It's our friend Jack Dech. Jack, good morning. I want to start with Marco Rubio. We have a few of these to get to. I know that Rubio has really curried favor of late with the president-elect, but he's also someone who takes a foreign policy stance less like many in the Trump orbit. How does that come to play? How do you see that working out? Yeah, that's exactly right, Marty. Somebody who's a little bit more hawkish than Trump's initial leanings. Of course, Rubio, despite contesting the GOP nomination in 2016, very much a rival to Trump at that time in 2024, an early endorser of Trump's, and now we see him getting rewarded for that support. He's somebody who's been a supporter of Ukraine, so very much in the traditional mold of Mitch McConnell and other Republicans. You see him very much in a Ron Hawk, an Israel Hawk, somebody who's really staked his name, supporting the Israelis ever since October 7th, and even before, so this sets up an interesting tension, I think, as you mentioned, within the potential Trump cabinet and the Trump administration, you have some more hawkish people like Rubio who are going to push very heavily on the Trump first-term approach of maximum pressure, of containing Iran, and then you're going to have other restrainers within the administration trying to make sure that this conflict in the Middle East doesn't have the lid blown off, and so you're going to have this really divergence of views within the administration. Jack, obviously not as important, but these possible appointments always have a ripple effect when we see leadership, so do we know if this happens, who would likely fill Senator Rubio's seat in Florida? Of course, there's going to be a big scramble for the appointment of Governor Ron DeSantis already looking at several candidates. What's interesting is also what's going on on Capitol Hill as well, because this sets up a little bit of a game of musical chairs, of course, the Republicans have a much larger margin in the Senate than the House, so the Trump administration has not been picking off as many members of the House as potentially the Senate, but Rubio, of course, was chairman of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee. Now that seems like it's set to go to Tom Cotton once a contender for SecDef, but now moving into a very powerful role on Capitol Hill. Well, I have to cover Rubio more in depth if he is eventually appointed, Jack, I want to move to some other potential moves as well. I know defense officials that are bit anxious about the possibility of the Trump administration firing the Joint Chiefs chair, that's General CQ Brown, due to perceptions that he's a little out of step, to say the least, with the president to elect. Do you expect a major overhaul regarding the Pentagon, the leadership and all the rules there? So it does seem like members of the Trump campaign, Trump's transition, are eager to review many people in the Trump or in the Pentagon bureaucracy, rather. And this is not unusual for the Pentagon, right? We've heard, of course, ever since RFK and Elon Musk have come into Trump's orbit, a desire really to conduct reviews at every agency. And this goes back, of course, to Trump in 2020 as the administration was looking at the re-election campaign there. They did widespread agency reviews, so-called loyalty interviews, really reviewing members all the way down to junior staff and officials to see if they were loyal to the president. So this does seem to be what will happen in a second Trump administration. What's not clear yet is if that's going to extend to military officials, like CQ Brown. But it seems, at this point, there's a lot of anxiety that because CQ Brown has pushed diversity, inclusion, some of those other programs, dating all the way back to the George Floyd protests in 2020, it's something that could be out of step with this new administration that's promising to, quote, unquote, de-wokify the Pentagon. What are some of the other confirmed moves we've seen Trump make so far for his Cabinet? So a big one last night was representative Mike Walz of Florida going to become Trump's national security advisers. So you have two Florida Republicans in key national security roles alongside Mark Arubio. We've seen, of course, the sum of scuttle, but around sex deaf now with Tom Cotton out of that race, the Trump transition chair, Robert Wilkie, the former veteran affairs secretary, seems to be trying to circle that role. And we see just the administration moving very quickly to try and consolidate some of these jobs after Susie Wiles, of course, named chief of the staff, but seems like she's going to be very aggressive in controlling access to the president. And seems like she's been already very influential in getting some names that were close to her into the administration. Jack, this is a story very specific to Colorado. Now we're hearing moves again, moves that is of moving space command out of Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama, R2 Congress people, the one newly elected Jeff Crank, who represents part of that district in which space command is in and Doug Landborn, a longtime congressman in that district as well, they're both already getting ready to write letters saying, no, space command needs to stay. This has literally become a political football in many ways. What do you see? What does the Pentagon believe about the best place for space command? Yeah, obviously a lot of people want to see it in Colorado Springs, just given the proximity to all that infrastructure that's there, the proximity to NORAD and Northcom. So there's, of course, a major nerve center for the U.S. and really the North American military there, but you do have, of course, as the Republicans now seem set to take the House, Mike Rogers of Alabama will be taking the gavel very likely for the House Armed Services Committee. That seems like it could put the onus to move space command to Alabama. Of course, the Trump administration has pushed for that before Huntsville has argued, of course, it's a major conglomerate of defense industry. There's a lot down there, but it certainly is going to be an inner party tussel between folks like Landborn and people like Mike Rogers, but does seem like Mike Rogers gavel at this point. Jack, with the minute we have left, did it come as a surprise that Trump said he would not be inviting former ambassador Nikki Haley or former secretary of state mock Mike Pompeo to join his administration? This is a fascinating one, Gina, because it goes back to the fight between sort of more traditional conservatives like Haley and Pompeo who have been aspiring to be in the administration and restrainers. It seems like the restrainers won this one specifically. Nikki Haley and Mike Pompeo were unpopular with Tucker Carlson, Don Jr. So it seems like they won that one out, but again, this is going to be an ongoing fight in personnel, policy and ideas in the Trump administration. Defense reporter station at the Pentagon from Politico, it's Jack Dech. Thanks, Jack. Thank you so much. There's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with a bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure, and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Bank of Colorado, there's only one. Member FDIC. At Sprout's Farmers Market, we're all about fresh, healthy, and delicious. That's why you'll find the season's best local and organic produce handpicked and waiting for you in the center of our store. Visit your neighborhood Sprout's Farmers Market today, where fresh produce is always in season. At Sprout's Farmers Market, we're all about fresh, healthy, and delicious. Step into our bulk department to discover a world of options with hundreds of scoopable bulk bins and grab-and-go favorites. From wholesome grains and spices to limited-time goodies like pumpkin apple cashews and butter toffee peanuts. Plus buying in bulk means you can get as much or as little as you like for your next recipe or snack attack. Visit your neighborhood Sprout's Farmers Market today, or fly for fills every scoop. [MUSIC PLAYING]