US President-elect Donald Trump said that will nominate Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth for the position of Minister of Defense, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in the idea of ``America First,'' " read a statement from Trump. "With Pete at the helm, America's enemies are on notice. Our military will be great again, and America will never back down," he added.
Hegsett is a veteran of the Army National Guard and, according to his website, has served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Trump said he has chosen former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe to be director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Reuters reported, citing BTA.
John Ratcliffe is a former congressman and prosecutor. He served as director of national intelligence during the last year of Trump's first term.
The future head of the White House will nominate his long-time friend Steven Witkoff as a special envoy to the Middle East, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Witkoff is a Florida real estate investor who serves as chairman of Trump's inaugural committee. He has also spent some time in the world of real estate in New York, where Trump first appeared as a public figure.
Witkoff is also the president-elect's golfing partner and was with him when he was the target of a second assassination attempt in September at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Trump's transition team did not offer details about the Middle East envoy's role, but in a statement, Trump said: "Steve will be a tireless Voice for PEACE and will make us all proud."
The winner of the election said Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Republican Vivek Ramaswamy will head the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, Reuters reported, citing BTA.
Musk and Ramaswamy "will pave the way for my administration to eliminate government bureaucracy, reduce redundant regulations, reduce wasteful spending and restructure federal agencies”. Trump said in a statement.
Trump indicated that their work would be completed by July 4, 2026, adding that a smaller and more efficient government would be a "gift" for the country on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
The appointments reward two Trump supporters from the private sector, Reuters notes.
Musk heads the electric car company "Tesla", the social network "X" and the rocket company SpaceX, while Ramaswamy is a pharmaceutical company founder who ran for the Republican presidential nomination against Trump and then stood behind the former president after he dropped out.
Musk gave millions of dollars in support of Trump's presidential campaign and made public appearances with him. Trump had said he would offer Musk, the world's richest man, a role in his administration to promote government efficiency.
The abbreviation of the new department - DOGE - coincides with that of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency, which Musk promotes.
"This is going to send shockwaves through the system and for anyone involved in government waste, which is a lot of people!'' Musk said, according to a statement from Trump, who called the new government initiative "potentially" the Project Manhattan" of our time", referring to the US plan to create the atomic bomb that helped end World War II.