Donald Trump: Who didn’t make it into the cabinet – and why

During Donald Trump’s first presidency, the two were considered the best way to make themselves heard in the Oval Office: anyone who had an important message to convey to the US President went through Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, both special advisors at the time in prominent positions. Angela Merkel once thought that she could build a functioning relationship with her father through the president’s daughter – an assumption that turned out to be a fallacy.

During Donald Trump’s second term in office, the two will no longer hold any official positions. And they are not the only ones who still somehow belong to the Trump cosmos, but will be left out in the future or will not get the role they had hoped for. Trump loyalists Steve Bannon, Ben Carson and Richard Grenell are also threatened with being sidelined.

Melania Trump made herself scarce in the election campaign, but Jared and Ivanka almost completely disappeared from the political sphere. They smiled and waved at the cameras at the party conference, as well as during Donald Trump’s victory speech on election night. But they didn’t give any supportive interviews, for example. Anyone who follows Ivanka’s Instagram profile will see her on vacation or doing sports, with her husband and children, and other family – but you won’t see Donald Trump there. It almost seems as if Ivanka Trump wants to clearly distinguish herself.

There is speculation in the US media that the Trump-Kushner couple made a conscious decision to leave politics behind after their 2020 election defeat. At the beginning of the Trump presidency, the theory goes, they thought that working in the White House would increase their market value. But when their father kept repeating the lie about the stolen election, they were considered to be at the bottom of the celebrity scene in New York, their hometown. Apparently they now want to become more independent of what is decided in Trump’s name in Washington.

One person who also doesn’t want to take on a role in the administration is Donald Trump Jr. – Ivanka’s brother. He has already announced that he wants to work for an investment company in the future. However, he has a say in important personnel decisions. For example, Don Jr. is said to have ensured that Mike Pompeo, the former Secretary of State under Trump, would not become minister again. Pompeo has discreetly distanced himself from Trump in recent years, and this disloyalty is now apparently to be punished.

Don Jr. was also largely responsible for the decision to make JD Vance the vice presidential candidate. The two men had once become friends, and Don Jr. became one of Vance’s biggest advocates, even though he had previously referred to his father as “America’s Hitler.”

But the alliance could one day be put to the test. JD Vance and Donald Trump Jr. are both said to be seeking their own presidential candidacy in 2028. Who will Donald Trump support then? His son or his deputy?

It was only a month ago that the former chief strategist in the White House was released from prison. Steve Bannon served four months in prison for failing to comply with a subpoena from the House of Representatives. A committee of inquiry wanted to question Bannon on January 6, 2021, but he did not want to testify under oath. Many observers believe that Bannon’s statement could have seriously damaged Trump.

The former and soon-to-be US President fired Bannon in 2017, after just over six months in office. But the two men did not break up with each other. Trump is said to still regularly call his former chief strategist, who fantasized about the murder of immunologist Anthony Fauci in a podcast during the pandemic, to discuss current issues. However, it is considered almost impossible that the 70-year-old will be offered an official role in the next government again.

There are few who have personally suffered as much under Donald Trump as Ben Carson. During the election campaign eight years ago, the former neurosurgeon, who once successfully operated on Siamese twins and became known worldwide, was temporarily ahead of Trump in the polls. He initiated a campaign of abuse against Carson and brought him close to child molesters.

Nevertheless, Carson subsequently supported Trump in the election campaign against Hillary Clinton. At that time, the doctor and abortion opponent was considered the darling of evangelicals. As a thank you, Trump made the now 73-year-old Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; he was the only African American in the cabinet. Last week it was reported that Carson was the favorite for his old job – but then Trump chose a former football player.

Hardly anyone has been traded for as many jobs in Washington, DC as Richard Grenell, Trump’s former ambassador to Germany. Some saw him as a future secretary of state or national security adviser, others as director of national intelligence. But to the astonishment of many experts in the capital, Grenell has so far come away empty-handed.

At the moment it is rumored that Grenell could become a special representative for Ukraine and Russia. Grenell would play a key role in the negotiations about a possible end to the war. When Trump met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in New York during the election campaign, Grenell was one of the few advisers allowed to attend the meeting.

If Trump creates the position of special envoy, it would probably also be an admission that he cannot end the war within 24 hours as promised. For Grenell, the office would be an opportunity and a risk at the same time. If the war ends quickly, he could be recommended for even higher tasks. If the war lasts any longer, Trump could, as usual, blame Grenell for it.