President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday he will not ask his former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley to join his cabinet, icing out two former cabinet members whose loyalties to him wavered.
In a Truth Social post Saturday, the former president wrote that he would not be inviting Haley or Pompeo to join the Trump administration. He added: “I very much enjoyed and appreciated working with them previously, and would like to thank them for their service to our Country. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
The announcement indicates the extent to which loyalty will factor into the workings of the second Trump administration. Haley ran against Trump for president in 2024 and did not campaign with him even though she offered. Pompeo, who also served as Trump’s CIA director, flirted with a presidential bid of his own in 2024, but opted against challenging Trump for the Republican nomination. Both also endorsed Trump later in the cycle than other former Trump administration officials.
It is unclear if Haley was angling for a position within the second Trump administration. But two people familiar with the deliberations told POLITICO that Pompeo, who campaigned for Trump, was making a concerted effort to be named to the position of defense secretary. Both were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive deliberations.
The two people added that Pompeo’s bid to become the nation’s defense chief ran into heated opposition from close allies of the former president, including his son, Donald Trump Jr., and right-wing commentator and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Trump’s post came a half hour after POLITICO asked the transition team to comment on a story being prepared about Pompeo’s bid being blocked by Trump Jr. and Carlson.
“There is a desire to not have people with presidential ambitions” use Trump cabinet posts as a launch pad, said one of the two people, a former senior Trump administration official. “He got burned by Mike previously, and by Haley, and his foreign policy views are not aligned with the president.”
Pompeo, a West Point grad and former House member, had long been among a handful of names publicly circulating as a possible defense secretary in a second Trump administration. That field had already winnowed down this week when Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), an Army veteran and vocal defense hawk, took his name out of consideration for an administration job.
A pair of House lawmakers, though, are in the mix. Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.) – a former Green Beret and near constant cable news presence in defense of Trump – is seen as a favorite for the top Pentagon job. Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), who chairs the House Armed Services Committee, is also a dark horse candidate to be Trump’s defense chief.
“Ambassador Haley was proud to work with President Trump as she defended America at the United Nations. She wishes him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years,” said Haley spokesperson Chaney Denton.
A spokesperson for Pompeo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Carlson and a spokesperson for Trump Jr. also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Connor O’Brien, Robbie Gramer and Paul McLeary contributed to this report.
