Trump's Orbit

Susie Wiles is a behind-the-scenes, Florida-based Republican operative who helped Trump win Florida in 2016 before helping Ron DeSantis get elected governor of Florida. Wiles’s daughter, Caroline, was rewarded with a White House job despite not having a college degree, but she resigned because she couldn’t pass an FBI background check (Caroline later became one of the highest-paid staffers on the 2024 campaign). Susie Wiles was drummed out of politics by DeSantis before she was brought back into the fold by Trump following his second impeachment and leading an insurrection on January 6, 2021.

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Stephen Miller is perhaps best known for enabling Trump’s worst tendencies on immigration during his first term. He may be back and do even more damage by recklessly deporting millions of undocumented immigrants. Miller’s harsh policies might be even worse in a second term.

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Marco Rubio has embraced Donald Trump’s disdain for abortion rights and Social Security and Medicare, making him the perfect fit for Trump’s cabinet

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Like Trump, RFK Jr. is an entitled and vengeful conspiracy theorist who sides with Putin and the violent January 6th insurrectionists. Even before COVID-19, RFK Jr. was most known for his work to spread dangerous conspiracy theories. Since the pandemic, RFK Jr. has only gotten more entrenched in irrational, racist, antigovernment ideas, putting him in league with 9/11 truthers and neo-Nazis. He’d be right at home in a future Trump administration.

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As a member of Congress and on his failed bid for governor of New York, Lee Zeldin espoused an extreme agenda that could endanger our national security and our health and safety. Zeldin has been floated as a potential cabinet official in a second Trump term.

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Linda McMahon, who formerly served in Trump’s cabinet, is back and is helping to fund Trump’s campaign and his PAC. McMahon’s support for Trump’s corporate tax giveaway and her work supporting people harmful to our democracy are disqualifying.

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The North Dakota governor and former businessman could be a key player in another Trump administration. On top of being rich, Burgum is anti-abortion, anti-LGBTQ rights, and anti-clean energy.

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An undying Trump loyalist, Noem’s audition for the Trump cabinet has consisted of her touting her extremism on issues like abortion, Social Security, and Medicare while also failing to lead her home state.

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Elise Stefanik once tried to brand herself as a moderate Republican, but her facade wasn’t fooling anyone. Her years-long record against democracy, health care, and abortion rights would make her a perfect fit in a Trump administration.

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Tulsi Gabbard has a long history of extremism and with a prominent role in Donald Trump’s administration, she could have the opportunity to act on it. From abortion to LGBTQ+ rights to her dangerous foreign policy beliefs, putting Gabbard near power puts our safety and rights in jeopardy.

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Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe used his position in the Trump White House to politicize intelligence related to our national security, drawing scrutiny from intelligence officials. He could be on his way back to the administration if Trump wins. 

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One of Trump’s top sycophantic mouthpieces, Karoline Leavitt, could be following him to the White House if he wins a second term. Before she became Trump’s spokesperson, Leavitt ran for Congress in New Hampshire on an anti-abortion, anti-democracy, anti-Social Security, and anti-Affordable Care Act platform. There is no doubt she would bring those same views to another Trump administration.

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Ever since Vivek Ramaswamy dropped out of the presidential race, he has been trying his hardest to secure a spot in a second Trump administration. He would fit right in with his penchant for conspiracies and distaste for abortion rights and democracy. 

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Elon Musk is the world’s richest person and used his vast fortune and influence in many ways – including legally dubious ones – to help Donald Trump win the 2024 election. Musk’s social media platform, X, promoted Republican accounts and anti-Democratic posts, and he has pumped tens of millions of dollars into a super PAC – America PAC – that doled out money to voters and spread false claims about election irregularities. Musk also downplayed the January 6 insurrection.

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Dana White is a wealthy business owner who credits Trump for some of the success of his mixed martial arts promotion because Trump hosted events at his then-floundering (and now-demolished) casinos. White and his business promote alpha-male culture and tout misogynists and far-right extremists. White was recorded slapping his wife in the face but reportedly faced no consequences from his company.

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Ben Carson served as secretary of Housing and Urban Development under Trump. An ethically conflicted extremist, Carson’s anti-abortion agenda coupled with his disdain for programs like Social Security and Medicare could help make Trump’s second term more dangerous than the first.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s conspiracy theories coupled with her extremism on issues of democracy and abortion rights make her a perfect fit in a second Donald Trump administration, where she is reportedly under consideration for a key role.

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Kevin Roberts is the president of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, the architects of Trump’s wish list known as Project 2025. Roberts and Project 2025 have called for Trump to enact extreme policies in many areas of American life – from health care to education – and want to replace government scientists with Trump’s political appointees. Roberts’ violent rhetoric of “political revolution” has alarmed even former colleagues, with the former director of Project 2025 calling on him to stop employing “violent rhetoric and bellicose taunting.”

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Larry Kudlow did enough damage during Trump’s first term, but he may be making a return in a second Trump administration.

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Tim Scott’s tenure in the Senate has been filled with vilifying abortion rights and essential programs like Social Security and Medicare. Scott often touts his work with Trump on opportunity zones, part of Trump’s tax cuts for the rich that further supported the wealthiest Americans at the expense of everyday families.

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Robert Mercer and his family have already invested millions of dollars to ensure that Trump is back in the White House. Mercer is best known for his investment in the alt-right website, Breitbart News. Additionally, he has infamously opposed civil rights and touted numerous conspiracy theories.
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Nicole Shanahan is an anti-vaccine billionaire whose fortune came from her divorce from Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who reportedly sought the separation after Shanahan had an affair with Elon Musk. She pumped millions of dollars into RFK Jr.’s bizarre presidential campaign before joining him on the ticket. Together, they pushed dangerous conspiracy theories about vaccines and false and incendiary rhetoric about Democrats.

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Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison has put his support, and his millions, behind Trump. Ellison is infamous for joining a call on overturning the 2020 election results and overseeing a company that was forced to settle with workers over gender pay disparities.

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John Paulson, a big Trump donor, is reportedly under consideration to run the Treasury Department in a second Trump term. Paulson has a history of alleged fraud and making billions while average Americans suffered.

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The former Georgia senator and her husband are ready to spend millions to re-elect Trump and it’s no surprise why. Like Trump, Loeffler and Sprecher have a history of self-dealing while also being extremists on issues like abortion and democracy.

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Allison Eid, a circuit judge, was floated as a potential Trump Supreme Court pick. Eid also happened to be a top pick for anti-abortion groups.

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Despite his failed run for governor which centered on his support for draconian anti-abortion laws, Daniel Cameron may find himself, once again, on Trump’s shortlist for a Supreme Court seat.

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Allison Jones Rushing is an anti-abortion Trump-appointed judge who could become an anti-abortion justice on the Supreme Court in a second Trump term. Rushing is known for ruling to support a Trump rule that attempted to defend health centers that referred patients for abortion care and her work for an anti-abortion non-profit.

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Barbara Lagoa, who recently ruled to uphold Georgia’s six-week abortion ban, is reportedly one of Trump’s picks for a vacant Supreme Court seat.

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Like many Trump judicial picks, Bade has been hostile to abortion rights. Last year, Bade ruled to lift an injunction allowing parts of an Idaho law into effect, which threatened emergency room doctors that provided abortions with prison time.

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Carlos Muñiz, who is on Trump’s shortlist for a Supreme Court appointment, allowed one of the strictest abortion bans in the country to go into effect and has railed against abortion and the right to privacy altogether.

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David Stras is a notable anti-abortion judge, having ruled to uphold multiple abortion restrictions in Missouri. It is no surprise he was on Trump’s shortlist for a Supreme Court seat.

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Diane Sykes is yet another anti-abortion judge that Trump might promote to the nation’s highest court in a second term.

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Don Willett, a circuit court judge nominated by Trump in 2017, has demonstrated his distaste for reproductive rights on the federal bench. It’s no wonder he’s been on Trump’s shortlist for a seat on the Supreme Court.

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Greg Katsas, an anti-abortion zealot from the Bush administration, is on Trump’s shortlist for a Supreme Court appointment.

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James Ho is one of the most extreme judges Trump brought to the federal judiciary, between his hostility to mifepristone to his outright antagonistic language on abortion. He could be coming to the Supreme Court in a second Trump term.

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As a judge, Joan Larsen has ruled to restrict abortion access and make it harder to access family planning services. No wonder she’s on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist.

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Kate Todd may be returning to Trump’s world, where she previously helped him stack the federal judiciary with anti-abortion judges, this time as a potential Supreme Court judge.

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Lawrence VanDyke is an anti-abortion zealot who fought to ban abortion and overturn Roe v. Wade. It’s no wonder that he has been on Trump’s shortlist for a Supreme Court seat.

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Noel Francisco, who served as Trump’s solicitor general, has fought for years against abortion access. It’s no surprise he has been floated as a potential Supreme Court pick for Trump. Francisco’s record includes fighting in favor of abortion restrictions, trying to hinder contraception access, and even attempting to require a teenage immigrant to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term.

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Paul Clement is an anti-abortion judge who fought to ban certain abortion procedures and make contraception harder to obtain, which is why he’s been on Trump’s shortlist for a Supreme Court appointment.

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Peter Phipps has been floated as a Supreme Court pick for Trump, and given his record defending policies that antagonized abortion care, it’s no wonder.

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Raymond Gruender is a judge who has ruled against abortion access and contraception and is on Trump’s shortlist for the Supreme Court.

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Sarah Pitlyk is one of Trump’s most anti-abortion picks for the federal bench during his first term. And if Trump gets another term, she could be a Supreme Court justice.

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Steven Colloton, a judge who ruled to require women to receive politically loaded anti-abortion information before obtaining a procedure, is said to be on Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist in a second term.

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Stuart Kyle Duncan has opposed abortion on the federal bench and in private practice, and soon he could do the same on the highest court in the country as a Trump Supreme Court pick.

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Ted Cruz has long been an anti-abortion zealot in the Senate – between his disdain for Roe v. Wade and his support for federal abortion bans – but in a second Trump term, he could be elevated to the nation’s highest court.

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Thomas Hardiman, who Trump floated as a potential Supreme Court pick, has sided with anti-abortion protesters. He could bring those same sympathies to the nation’s highest court.

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As a judge, William Pryor has opposed Roe v. Wade. As a member of Trump’s shortlist for a potential Supreme Court seat, who knows what rights he might take away.

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Russell Vought made his mark on the first Trump administration by halting aid to Ukraine, which led to Trump’s first impeachment. Armed with his Christian nationalism and Islamophobic beliefs, Vought could return in the next administration.

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Sid Miller, the infamously brash Texan, could finally make his way into a Trump office as agriculture secretary. His promotion of harmful, false online conspiracies would be welcomed in a cabinet hand-picked to enable Trump’s worst instincts.  

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Former Ambassador Kip Tom could be making a second go-around in a Trump administration if he wins in November, this time as agriculture secretary.

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Project 2025 has been the culmination of work by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative groups to lay the groundwork for a second Trump term. The group has vetted Trump loyalists for potential administration roles while also proposing draconian policies on abortion, education, and civil rights

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Kash Patel might be making a return to another Trump administration after years of pushing conspiracy theories and being involved in Trump’s classified documents probe.

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Stephen Moore, who was once deemed too controversial for an appointment for the Federal Reserve, is back and he has Trump’s ear. Moore’s blatant sexism and his reluctance to pay taxes has made him detestable by people on both sides of the aisle, except for Trump.

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Kevin McCarthy may have been ousted from his job as speaker of the House, but he’s reportedly up for a big job in a second Trump administration. His anti-abortion, anti-democracy, and anti-Medicare agenda would fit right in.

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Robert Lighthizer, Trump’s former trade representative who was best known for starting a harmful trade war, could be making his return to a second Trump administration.

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Christopher Miller, who served as acting secretary of defense during the tail-end of the Trump administration, once said he could not wait to leave his post. However, he could be in for a return to the Pentagon as Trump has floated him as a potential secretary of defense. Having served as acting secretary for just over two months, Miller’s tenure on the job was short, but eventful. Miller’s reluctance to activate the National Guard on January 6, 2021 kept the violence going far longer than it needed to.

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John McEntee was a former Trump staffer and current Project 2025 staffer who could be making his way back to the White House in a second Trump term. McEntee left the first Trump administration in disgrace over issues with his security clearance. Since then, he’s been working with Project 2025 to push Trump to enact an extreme agenda in a second term.

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Steve Bannon was an influential and dangerous player in Trump’s first administration. His podcast feeds red meat to the extreme MAGA base weekly and he could be back in a second term.

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Donald Trump already refers to Ric Grenell as his “envoy,” despite neither of them being in office. If Trump is re-elected, he and Grenell will spread danger around the globe. Grenell, like Trump, tends to favor autocratic leaders, which makes sense since he’s favored efforts by Trump to delegitimize American democracy.

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Mike Davis spent years in the Senate pushing through extreme judicial nominees, and he could be coming to Trump’s next administration. With Davis’ history of denigrating immigrants and attacking democracy, he would fit right in as Trump’s potential attorney general.

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