The Trump transition team has stacked up a few more administration picks this week, and reports say the team hopes to fill most of the spots by the end of next week. We are slowly getting
a stronger sense of what type of team the Trump administration will be, though some looming questions remain.
It's becoming clear that Trump is not fulfilling his campaign
promise to “drain the swamp.” He often spoke out against the excesses of Wall Street financiers, and most significantly appealed to the struggling working class. His administration
picks thus far, however, have largely been from the uber-wealthy class much like Trump himself.
"Trump's appointees will probably wind up being the most wealthy group of people who
have served in a presidential cabinet in history," professor Robert Spitzer, author of five books on American presidents. told the Los Angeles Times.
Wall Street reforms put in
place following the 2008 crash look poised to be undone with virtually no benefit to the common taxpayer.
Trump’s messaging during the campaign fails to fit his current
administration picks, with his Commerce (Wilbur Ross) and Treasury (Steven Mnuchin) picks likely to do very little in terms of restricting the outsized influence that big business and Wall Street have
on Washington D.C.
In the short term, a policy of undoing Obama-era regulations may very well test positively among Trump voters, but the without significant changes to the
economy the president-elect promised as a candidate, that good will may be short-lived.
The other big question -- largely worrying those who supported Hillary Clinton -- is how
America will behave on the world stage.
Gov. Nikki Haley was tapped as Ambassador to the UN, which appears to be an olive branch to the Republican establishment.
The
Secretary of State job, however, is still very much up in the air.
The three main contenders for the job are long-time Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani, long-time Trump critic Mitt
Romney, and disgraced former four-star general and CIA director David Petraeus. Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker is also in the mix.
Differences between the four couldn’t be starker,
and Trump’s decision will highly influence his presidency.
While Mitt Romney was Obama’s opponent in 2012, many Democrats hope the level-headed former Gov. of
Massachusetts will get the job. Much of Trump’s base, channeled through Kellyanne Conway in her criticism of Romney, hopes Giuliani becomes our top diplomat.
Petraeus, an
Obama-era appointee, might be able to bridge the gap as a former military officer with a stellar record, other than a much-publicized extramarital affair. Sen. Corker appears the favorite among his
fellow Senators.
Some questions are being answered, while other, large ones remain. In reality, we still don’t know how Trump will act as President of the United States, and we
have another 48 days before reality comes knocking.