Under serious pressure from his base, Trump announced earlier tonight that neither Mike Pompeo or Nikki Haley will be returning to his administration in his second term.
Trump suggested that Haley would be “on the team” back in spring when she endorsed him and recently hinted that Pompeo was a top choice for Secretary of Defense. Both of these possible appointments were among the reasons that I did not support Trump in the election, so this is a pleasant surprise.
With that being said, and I hope this doesn’t come across as overly critical, I am not completely relieved yet. While we know who will NOT be Secretary of Defense and UN Ambassador, there are still a number of bad options being considered.
This concern is not unwarranted. Trump has already chosen Brian Hook, who is Pompeo’s top lieutenant and a lunatic neocon in his own right, to head up the transition team for the State Department.
Moreover, many of the same people celebrating the un-endorsement of Pompeo are also privately urging Trump to appoint Ric Grenell, a gay neocon who collaborated with Pompeo to extradite Assange, for Secretary of State.
Pompeo and Haley were quite possibly the two worst potential appointees, and both had been disloyal to Trump since he left office. Is this really a remarkable development in itself? If Trump appoints someone who is comparably bad like Ric Grenell, then I don’t think so.
As of right now, I believe the only reason there was so much push back against Pompeo is because of his pro-Ukraine position. As I have said before, there is a significant Russian-Israeli element that has supported Trump from the beginning. Are people like Tucker anti-Pompeo because he is a neocon or because he is against Russia?
We will find out soon enough who will take the senior positions but until then I am very skeptical.
Trump suggested that Haley would be “on the team” back in spring when she endorsed him and recently hinted that Pompeo was a top choice for Secretary of Defense. Both of these possible appointments were among the reasons that I did not support Trump in the election, so this is a pleasant surprise.
With that being said, and I hope this doesn’t come across as overly critical, I am not completely relieved yet. While we know who will NOT be Secretary of Defense and UN Ambassador, there are still a number of bad options being considered.
This concern is not unwarranted. Trump has already chosen Brian Hook, who is Pompeo’s top lieutenant and a lunatic neocon in his own right, to head up the transition team for the State Department.
Moreover, many of the same people celebrating the un-endorsement of Pompeo are also privately urging Trump to appoint Ric Grenell, a gay neocon who collaborated with Pompeo to extradite Assange, for Secretary of State.
Pompeo and Haley were quite possibly the two worst potential appointees, and both had been disloyal to Trump since he left office. Is this really a remarkable development in itself? If Trump appoints someone who is comparably bad like Ric Grenell, then I don’t think so.
As of right now, I believe the only reason there was so much push back against Pompeo is because of his pro-Ukraine position. As I have said before, there is a significant Russian-Israeli element that has supported Trump from the beginning. Are people like Tucker anti-Pompeo because he is a neocon or because he is against Russia?
We will find out soon enough who will take the senior positions but until then I am very skeptical.