Republican Donald Trump has chosen billionaire Steven Feinberg as deputy secretary of defense, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Feinberg is co-chairman of the investment company "Cerberus Capital Management". He was part of the advisory board advising Trump on intelligence issues during his first presidential term from 2017 to 2021.
Trump has already nominated Pete Hegsett for secretary of defense. Hegsett is a former host on „Fox News“. However, allegations of alcohol abuse and inappropriate sexual behavior have been made against him. Hegseth denies these.
Trump also nominated Kathy Miller, the wife of Stephen Miller, who will be deputy chief of staff, to a responsible position, Reuters reported. Miller's wife will be one of the members of the oversight board of the new government efficiency agency, which will be headed by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and whose goal is to drastically cut government spending and federal employees. He then denied having had such a relationship.
Trump recalled that Elon Musk could not become president of the United States, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
The growing influence of the technology magnate is leading some to wonder whether Musk actually wants Trump's place.
"He will not be president, I can assure you of that", Trump said of Musk to supporters in Phoenix, Arizona.
"I am calm, do you know why? "He can't be president because he wasn't born in this country," Trump said of Musk, who was born in South Africa and later became a naturalized American. "I like to be around intelligent people," Trump added of Musk, assuring him that the tech mogul was not trying to get to the presidency. Trump responded to criticism from the Democratic camp, who even called the richest man on the planet "President Musk" because Musk was increasingly occupying the political space alongside Trump. Trump also said that it might be worth leaving the TikTok app in the US for a while, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
Trump added that during the presidential campaign he received billions of views on the social platform.
This statement is one of the strongest signals yet that he is against the exit of "Tik Tok" from the American market.
In April, the US Senate passed a law requiring the Chinese parent company of "Tik Tok" – "ByteDance" - to give up ownership of the application, arguing for reasons related to a threat to national security. The Chinese company appealed to the US Supreme Court, which said it would consider the case. If the Supreme Court does not rule in favor of "ByteDance", the app could be banned in the United States on January 19.
"I think we're going to have to start thinking about it because, you know, we went out on "Tik Tok" and we had a great response with billions of views, billions and billions of views," Trump said. "They showed me a rating that was record-breaking and it was so good to watch, and when I saw it, I said, "Maybe we should hold this thing for a while," he added.
On Monday, Trump met with "Tik Tok"'s CEO. At a press conference that same day, Trump said he had "warm feelings" about "Tik Tok" thanks to the success of his campaign on the app.
The Justice Department has argued that Chinese control of "Tik Tok" poses a continuing threat to U.S. national security, a position supported by most U.S. lawmakers.
Trump also said he would launch a new anti-drug campaign and repeated his threat to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"We're going to advertise how bad drugs are for you. They ruin your looks, they ruin your face, they ruin your skin, they ruin your teeth," Trump said.
Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for additional information.
Trump's plan resembles the "Just Say No" anti-drug campaign led by former US First Lady Nancy Reagan, wife of Republican President Ronald Reagan. The campaign, which began in the 1980s, aimed to encourage young Americans to quit drugs.
According to pessimistic projections, between 50,000 and 60,000 Americans could die from synthetic opioid overdoses this year, with most of them taking fentanyl or drugs similar to it, Reuters reported.
The fentanyl crisis has been a prominent feature of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, even though deaths from synthetic opioids more than doubled during his 2017-2021 administration.
Trump also renewed his campaign promise to designate Mexican drug cartels as terrorist groups.