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The big takeaway from Trump’s whirlwind round of personnel announcements

Donald Trump,Appointments

From the Left

Donald Trump is sending a message to anyone hoping to work with his second White House: Dissenters need not apply.

In a rapid-fire series of edicts and late-night social media posts over the last 72 hours, Trump made clear to Washington he plans to stack his second administration with loyalists and expects Republicans on Capitol Hill and elsewhere to fall in line.

The incoming president on Monday tapped three of his staunchest current and former congressional allies for key roles, naming Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) as his next U.N. ambassador, former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York to lead the Environmental Protection Agency and Rep. Mike Waltz (R-Fla.) to be his national security adviser, with a fourth, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), expected to be nominated as secretary of State. He’s also bringing immigration hard-liners Stephen Miller and Thomas Homan back to the White House in key policy roles. Those announcements come after Trump over the weekend publicly banished two pillars of his first administration — former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — hawkish Republicans who had previously criticized Trump but ultimately embraced his candidacy.

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