Some of the appointments recently made by have caused quite a stir Donald Trump. Some commentators, American and local, immediately began to tear their clothes, accusing the president in pectore of having selected figures who were inexperienced, radical and too loyal to him. In particular, it was mainly states that ended up in the crosshairs of criticism Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon, Tulsi Gabbard to the Directorate of National Intelligence e Matt Gaetz leading the Department of Justice. Already several are talking about the “end of America”, fearing disasters and collusion with dictatorships. In short, an apocalyptic scenario. We therefore have to ask ourselves whether this is really the case.
Of course, there is no doubt that these appointments have surprised people, so much so that some (especially that of Gaetz) could find themselves with an uphill battle regarding ratification in the Senate. A further premise to make is obviously that these figures will be judged on the basis of their work. Preventive defenses must therefore be avoided. However, on the other hand, a priori criticism must be avoided. Certain partisan banalities that are circulating at the moment do not help to understand a series of elements of fundamental importance.
Let’s start by saying that Trump he is acting, following a method: a method that may or may not be acceptable, but which cannot be classified as the madness of a deranged person, as some are trying to make you believe. The president in pectore is surprising everyone exactly because he wants to displace everyone. First of all, the tycoon intends to heavily reform some key sectors of the government apparatus: the Pentagon, Intelligence and the Department of Justice. In this sense, he wants to torpedo the entire chain of officials that dates back to the Obama administration. It also aims to streamline bureaucratic leadership and, above all, to repeal the internal policies for diversity and inclusion that had been carried out in the apparatus by the Biden administration. This, in itself, makes us understand the meaning of the choice of Hegseth, Gaetz and of Gabbard: all three are in fact harsh critics of wokeism in institutions. Displacing, in this sense, therefore means preparing the spoils system, while at the same time giving a signal to the electoral base.
A second aspect to consider is that Trump he also wants to shuffle the cards to restore America’s ability to deter Beijing, Moscow and Tehran. Above all Hegseth he is a name little known to international chancelleries and, with him, the president in pectore aims to increase the sense of surprise and anxiety of the Chinese, Russians and Iranians. Among other things, the three appointments we are talking about must be systematized with the others. The Secretary of State in pectore, Marco Rubioand the next director of the CIA, John Ratcliffethey are in fact, like Hegsethof the anti-Chinese and anti-Iranian hawks. Anyone who claims today that the nascent administration would become friends with autocracies doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Of course, there are those who remember some controversial positions of the Gabbard in the past: when, for example, he met Bashar al Assad in 2017. However, it is omitted to mention that those positions date back to the long period in which the person concerned was active in the Democratic Party, just as it is omitted to say that, in 2019, she herself then condemned the Syrian president. And anyway, in 2021, Joe Biden appointed as Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Shermanwho had been among the main negotiators of the controversial Iranian nuclear deal in 2015. Also in 2021, the outgoing president chose another former negotiator of that agreement, Robert Malleyas special envoy for Iran: it’s a shame that he ended up under investigation by the FBI for mismanagement of sensitive information that would have ended up in the hands of a hostile actor. All this, always remembering that the regimes of Tehran and Damascus are allies.
A third aspect to take into consideration is that of lack of experience. From many quarters, critics of the appointments are resorting to this argument. Now, it is certainly true that Hegseth and the Gabbard they are not technicians or career officials. However, we should ask ourselves what results the “competent” people Biden had chosen brought home. In 2021, the outgoing president had placed a general as Lloyd Austin head of the Pentagon and former deputy director of the CIA Avril Haines to the Directorate of National Intelligence. Well, in May 2022 confidential documents leaked about the support that the US had provided to Kiev in the sinking of the cruiser Moskva. In April 2023, the Pentagon leaks scandal broke out, which was embarrassing Biden in the eyes of Ukraine, South Korea and Israel. It was last month, however, when American intelligence information was leaked about the Jewish state’s retaliation plans for the Iranian attack. In short, it’s not that the “competent” ones have given a great account of themselves. Finally coming to those who accuse Gaetz of being a partisan profile (and therefore unsuitable to become attorney general), it should be remembered that the current head of the Department of Justice, Merrick Garlandappointed, in 2022, the special prosecutor who would then indict what, at the time, was the electoral opponent of Biden: that Biden who, in 2021, he had designated in turn Garland as attorney general. We repeat: the figures named by Trump they will have to be judged on the basis of their actions. But those who tear their clothes today crying about incompetence should review the disasters committed by the “experts” put in power by Biden in the last four years.
