Tesla and Space X founder Elon Musk and millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, who ran for president in the Republican primary, will lead the new US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
This was reported by the US President-elect Donald Trump on his social network.
"Together, these two great Americans will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, reduce redundant regulations, wasteful spending and restructure federal agencies," Trump said in a statement.
He said the new department would provide advice from outside the government and work with the White House and the Budget Office to implement "large-scale structural reform" and create an entrepreneurial approach to government "unseen before."
Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy is known for his anti-Ukrainian views. During the election campaign, he said that he plans to visit Moscow as president in 2025 and discuss ending the war. The republican declared that he would "accept" the control of the Russian Federation over the occupied territories of Ukraine, promised to prevent Ukraineʼs accession to NATO and to cancel sanctions. Ramaswamy also said that he does not consider Ukraine a democratic country and called President Zelensky a Nazi. His staff later tried to deny it.
Trump also nominated Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth for the post of Pentagon chief. Hegseth is a veteran of the US Army, a National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has a bachelorʼs degree from Princeton and a masterʼs degree from Harvard.
"Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America First. With Pete at the helm, Americaʼs enemies will be warned — our military will be great again and America will never retreat," Trump said.
Pete Hegseth
As Reuters writes, Hegseth harshly criticized Americaʼs European allies, calling them "obsolete, unarmed" and "powerless."
"Why should America, Europeʼs ʼemergency lineʼ for the last century, listen to cocky and powerless nations asking us to adhere to outdated and one-sided defense arrangements that they themselves no longer adhere to?" — writes Hegseth in his book.
In his podcast and television appearances, he has said that China is building an army "specifically designed to defeat the United States of America."
During the same speech, Hegseth said that Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine in 2022 looked like "Putinʼs give-me-my-shit-back war."
In addition, the newly elected US president officially announced that he wants to appoint South Dakota governor Kristi Noem as the head of the Department of Homeland Security.
Christy Noem
Trump called her "very strong on border security," noting that she sent National Guard troops to the Texas-Mexico border as governor. Noem has made immigration a key item on her agenda during her tenure and has been a vocal critic of the Joe Biden administrationʼs policies on it.
"She will work closely with ʼborder czarʼ Tom Homan to secure our borders and ensure that our American homeland is protected from our adversaries," Trump wrote.
- Trump is gradually assembling his team in the White House. On November 11, he announced that he had chosen Elise Stefanik, a representative of the Republican Party, for the position of the US ambassador to the United Nations.
- On November 12, Trump officially appointed Republican Mike Waltz as his national security adviser.
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