As he works to form an administration centered around him, US President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he will assign the Department of Health to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a well-known skeptic of vaccines.
Trump also intends to appoint three of his personal lawyers to key positions in the federal judiciary.
In a speech at a gala event at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, which was inaugurated by Argentine President Javier Milei and movie star Sylvester Stallone, the president-elect praised his shocking appointments to the Department of Health, Justice, and Defense, and to a committee he created under the name “government efficiency” and entrusted to Elon Musk.
Trump went so far as to call for his second term to begin “on November 5,” the date of the presidential election he won, “because the markets have gone through the roof and the excitement has doubled” since then.
Trump wrote in a post announcing Kennedy’s nomination on his Truth Social platform that a Kennedy-led Department of Health and Human Services “will play a major role in ensuring that everyone is protected from the harmful chemicals, pollutants, pesticides, pharmaceuticals and food additives that have contributed to this country’s great health crisis.”
“People love you, Bobby,” he said of his nominee. “Don’t be so popular.”
The former environmental lawyer, who lacks any scientific training, has struck an unlikely alliance with the 78-year-old Republican businessman when he dropped out of the race for the White House as an independent candidate.
He has promoted conspiracy theories about vaccines against the Covid-19 pandemic and about an alleged link between vaccines and autism, and he has called for an end to fluoridation in drinking water, despite it being a remarkable health success in preventing tooth decay.
Robert Kennedy Jr. is intent on fighting unhealthy food and supports restricting abortion rights to 24 weeks, until the fetus is viable.
The politician, whose personality is difficult to define and who was addicted to heroin in his youth, admitted that he once left a small bear carcass in New York's Central Park, and that he had previously undergone surgery to remove a parasitic worm that, according to him, had eaten part of his brain and died.
It is unlikely that Trump, who will be sworn in on January 20, will repeat what he described as the "biggest mistake" of his first term (2017-2021), when he chose "disloyal people".
Todd Belt, a professor of political science at George Washington University, told AFP that "Trump's choices are based on two criteria: loyalty and estrangement".
This was demonstrated by the president-elect, who completely turned the tables with his landslide victory in the elections, when he nominated Tulsi Gabbard to head the National Intelligence Directorate, a former Democrat known for her pro-Russian positions.
Trump's nominee for the Justice Department, Matt Gaetz, is one of Trump's most vocal supporters, and in the fall of 2022 he led the overthrow of the Republican speaker of the House of Representatives, causing chaos.
He will be supported by three of the president-elect's lawyers, Todd Blanche, Emil Bove and John Sawyer, whom Trump intends to appoint as deputy secretary and representative of the department to the Supreme Court, respectively.
Blanche and Bove defended the Republican president in his criminal trial in the case of payments to a former porn actress, which led to his conviction in New York on May 30, a first for a former American president.
Trump's first term was marked by a series of high-profile dismissals, and many of his former advisers and ministers turned against him.
This time, the 45th and soon 47th president is giving priority to people who sometimes lack any experience in the state apparatus, but who support him without reservation.
At the forefront of these figures is Elon Musk, who will lead a committee tasked with reducing public spending and removing regulations.
"He loves this place, I can't get him to leave. He's done an amazing job," Trump said as the world's richest man spends the week at Mar-a-Lago.
The New York Times reported that Musk is involved in many of the decisions, and on Monday he met with Iran's ambassador to the United Nations to "de-escalate tensions" between Tehran and the United States.
Trump has also chosen candidates who frequent Fox News, the number one network for conservatives. Todd Belt explained that the president-elect, himself a reality TV star and a big TV consumer, "likes people who look good on screen."
Trump even chose Fox News host Pete Hegseth to lead the Pentagon, despite the former military man having no senior leadership experience.
However, the president-elect has made one choice outside this approach, nominating Florida Senator Marco Rubio, with whom he had a contentious relationship during the 2016 election campaign, to be secretary of state.
These nominations will go to the Senate for confirmation, which will be a test of the loyalty of Republicans in the Senate.
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