Donald Trump made the first official hire of his incoming administration, announcing 2024 campaign co-chair Susan Summerall Wiles as his chief of staff.
The president-elect’s transition team is already vetting a series of candidates ahead of his return to the White House on 20 January 2025.
Many who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, though a handful of loyalists are rumoured by US media to be making a comeback.
The 78-year-old Republican is also surrounded by new allies who could fill his cabinet, staff his White House and take up other key roles across government.
Here is a closer look at names in the mix for the top jobs.
Susie Wiles and campaign co-chair Chris LaCivita were the masterminds behind Trump’s victory over Kamala Harris.
In his victory speech on Wednesday, he called her “the ice maiden” – a reference to her composure – and said she “likes to stay in the backgroundā.
Wiles was confirmed the next day as the first appointee of his second term – as his White House chief of staff. She will be the first woman ever to hold that job.
Chief of staff is often a president’s top aide, overseeing daily operations in the West Wing and managing the boss’s staff.
Wiles, 67, has worked in Republican politics for decades, from Ronald Reaganās successful 1980 presidential campaign to turning businessman Rick Scott into Florida’s governor in just seven months back in 2010.
Republicans have said she commands respect and has an ability to corral the big egos of those in Trump’s orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could.
