Trump transition updates: Trump taps America First think tank CEO as agriculture secretary

Brooke Rollins previously served in Trump's first administration.

ByTal Axelrod, Alexandra Hutzler, Meredith Deliso, Ivan Pereira, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: November 24, 2024, 6:02 PM EST

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for attorney general, said Thursday he is withdrawing his name for the role -- just a day after Gaetz spoke with Republican senators on Capitol Hill about the nomination process.

Trump has named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for the role.

Another controversial Cabinet pick, Pete Hegseth, is on the Hill on Thursday with Vice President-elect JD Vance to make his case for the secretary of the Department of Defense job.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to announce his picks for top jobs inside his administration.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Nov 12, 2024, 3:45 pm

Tracking those Trump has named to serve in his Cabinet, administration

Ahead of his return to power in January, Trump is announcing who he wants to fill Cabinet positions and other key roles inside his administration.

They include some of his staunchest allies on Capitol Hill and key advisers to his 2024 campaign.

Here is a running list of the people Trump has selected, or is expected to select, to serve in his administration.

Nov 23, 2024, 4:11 PM EST

Trump encourages Randy Fine to run for Rep. Waltz's open seat

President-elect Donald Trump is already leveraging his endorsement powers to fill vacated House seats around the country as he pulls members of Congress into his cabinet.

Trump encouraged Florida state Sen. Randy Fine to launch a bid for Florida's 6th District seat. Rep. Mike Waltz currently holds the seat, but Trump has tapped him as national security adviser.

In this May 17, 2023, file photo, Florida State House Representative Randy Fine speaks during a press conference in Tampa, Fla.
Octavio Jones/Reuters, FILE

"Randy Fine has my Complete and Total Endorsement. RUN, RANDY, RUN!" Trump said in a Truth Social post.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Soo Rin Kim

Nov 23, 2024, 1:48 PM EST

Incoming NATO secretary general met with Trump

President-elect Donald Trump met with the new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte Friday night at Mar-a-Lago, a NATO spokesperson said.

"They discussed the range of global security issues facing the Alliance," they said.

"The Secretary General and his team also met with Congressman Mike Waltz and members of the President-elect’s national security team," the spokesperson added.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Kelsey Walsh and Soo Rin Kim

Nov 22, 2024, 8:26 PM EST

Trump picks Scott Turner to lead Department of Housing and Urban Development

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated Scott Turner to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Turner, a former NFL player and Texas lawmaker, served in the White House during Trump's first term as the first executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, "helping to lead an Unprecedented Effort that Transformed our Country’s most distressed communities," Trump said in a statement Friday.

Scott Turner, former executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, during the America First Policy Institute's America First Agenda summit in Washington, D.C., July 25, 2022.
Bloomberg via Getty Images

In that role, Turner worked with former HUD Secretary Ben Carson on boosting economic development in "Opportunity Zones" across the country, created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which allowed people to invest in low-income areas and temporarily defer tax on eligible gains.

Nov 22, 2024, 8:10 PM EST

Marty Makary picked to head the FDA

Trump said he has nominated Marty Makary, a Johns Hopkins surgeon and author who argued against pandemic lockdowns, to lead the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

If confirmed by the Senate, Makary's job would be to oversee the FDA's $7 billion budget and report to the health secretary. The agency oversees $3.6 trillion in food, tobacco and medical products, including some 20,000 prescription drugs on the market.

In this Dec. 12, 2018, file photo, Dr. Marty Makary speaks during a screening of the HBO documentary film 'Bleed Out,' in New York.
Noam Galai/Getty Images for HBO, FILE

The president-elect said Makary "will work under the leadership of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to, among other things, properly evaluate harmful chemicals poisoning our Nation’s food supply and drugs and biologics being given to our Nation’s youth, so that we can finally address the Childhood Chronic Disease Epidemic."

-ABC News' Anne Flaherty and Will McDuffie

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