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As Donald Trump rolls out appointments to his Cabinet and White House staff, it is clear that personal and ideological loyalty to him and his agenda is more important than competence or adherence to ethical or constitutional norms.

His most egregious hires include designating former Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth as Secretary of State for Defence, a man who has previously expressed support for overturning convictions against soldiers found guilty of war crimes, and scepticism about women serving in the military.

Trump has appointed Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, neither of whom have any experience working in government, to head a new body to cut government spending, eliminate regulations and re-structure federal agencies.

This will probably result in the shredding of vital environmental, health and consumer protection measures, and the firing or resignations of thousands of experienced officials, to the detriment of government services.

Trump has also selected former Arkansas Governor Mick Huckabee to be the US Ambassador to Israel, a man who has supported the construction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, in direct violation of international law.

Elise Stefanik, tapped to become US Ambassador to the UN, vigorously defended Trump through his two impeachments, has little foreign policy experience, and is primarily known for her staunch defence of Israel and criticism of the UN's approach there - hardly traits which will smooth her path in New York.

Trump announced that former Congressman Lee Zeldin from New York would become Head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin has limited environmental experience, has accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries, supported Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accords, and expressed scepticism about renewable energy targets. He was also one of 126 Republican House members to sign onto the Texas v.

Pennsylvania lawsuit seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

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Trump has also appointed officials known for their willingness to adopt extremely harsh measures against illegal migrants, such as Tom Homan, a champion of Trump's family separation policy, to be his new "border czar", and immigration hardliner, Stephen Miller, to be his deputy chief of staff.

Yet even worse than these appointments are the designations of Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida as Trump's Attorney General, and Tulsi Gabbard to be his Director of National Intelligence, overseeing all 18 of the nation's intelligence agencies.

Gaetz shot to fame for encouraging the rioters on January 6th, and has railed for years against both the Department of Justice and the FBI for alleged politicization. His resentment against them is probably fuelled by the fact that he himself has been under investigation for sexual misconduct, illicit drug use and dispensation of special favors to cronies.

Tulsi Gabbard is a former democratic congresswoman turned Trump stalwart, who dabbles in conspiracy theories, has engaged with autocrats such as Syrian President Assad, and frequently propagates Russian propaganda. It boggles the mind to think how Justice and Intelligence officials are going to be able to work with leaders whose views are so utterly opposed to their institutions' values and missions.

EXCLUSIVE

Islamophobic World View of Tulsi Gabbard's Guru Revealed in Unearthed Recordings

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