Trump picks women for UN, education
PALM BEACH (AP) — Injecting the first diversity into his Cabinet-to-be, Donald Trump selected two Republican women on Wednesday who had unflattering things to say about him during the presidential campaign: South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations and charter school advocate Betsy DeVos to lead the Department of Education.
Haley has little foreign policy experience, yet Trump praised her as “a proven dealmaker.” DeVos, like Trump, is new to government but has spent decades working to change America’s system of public education.
DeVos and Haley are the first women selected for top-level administration posts as the presidentelect works to shape a White House team from scratch. Haley is the daughter of Indian immigrants, so she also would be his first minority selection after a string of announcements of white men.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson said “an announcement is forthcoming” on his role, which would make him the first black choice — possibly as secretary of Housing and Urban Development — but he also suggested he’d be thinking about it over the Thanksgiving holiday.
“I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly to making our inner cities great for everyone,” Carson wrote on his Facebook page.
Trump is also expected to select billionaire investor Wilbur Ross Jr. to lead the Commerce Department, a senior Trump adviser said Wednesday, speaking only on condition of anonymity because the adviser was not authorized to disclose internal deliberations. The 78-year-old Ross, who is white, is chairman and chief strategy officer of private-equity firm W.L. Ross & Co., which has specialized in buying failing companies.
Wednesday’s picks came as Trump worked to distance himself from the “alt-right,” a movement of white supremacists who continue to cheer his election.
He announced his two new choices in a statement released as he gathered with family behind closed doors at his Palm Beach estate for Thanksgiving. He’s spending the holiday there after a week of interviews of potential appointees in New York, punctuated by announcements of members of his national se- curity team.
In a Thanksgiving message posted on social media, Trump acknowledged that the nation “just finished a long and bruising political campaign.”
“Emotions are raw and tensions just don’t heal overnight,” he added. “It’s my prayer that on this Thanksgiving we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country strengthened by shared purpose and very, very common resolve.”
Bad blood between Trump and his new Cabinet selections had been evident through much of this year’s campaign.