President-elect Donald Trump hasn’t shied away from tapping or contemplating former Republican rivals to join his second administration. He even went so far as to nominate GOP lawmakers who criticized his political acumen for top leadership roles that could upend Washington.
Former presidential 2020 rival Vivek Ramaswamy was tapped to lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency with tech billionaire Elon Musk. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), a former 2016 presidential rival, was tapped by Trump as his secretary of state nominee. Vice President-elect J.D. Vance‘s past critical comments about Trump didn’t derail him from joining the ticket.
However, this may not be a sign of Trump’s willingness to let bygones be bygones but instead, give the president-elect the proverbial role as “the boss” auditioning the future GOP 2028 presidential contenders similar to his role as the host of NBC’s The Apprentice.
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“I think with Trump, there’s a degree to which he likes the fact that these folks who, once upon a time, were very critical of him, are now bending the knee and agreeing to serve in his administration,” Christopher Galdieri, a political scientist at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, said.
“If Trump 2.0 is anything like the first term, we’re going to have all of these Cabinet meetings where they go around the table, and every Cabinet member has to say something about how glad they are to be serving the great and glorious leader and that sort of thing,” Galdieri added.
Ahead of Trump’s inauguration next month, the Washington Examiner looked at the adversarial relationships Trump has had with possible members of his Cabinet.
J.D. Vance’s pre-ticket comments against Trump
Prior to joining Trump as his running mate, the Ohio senator called his future boss “America’s Hitler,” a “moral disaster,” and a “cynical a**hole like Nixon” in private messages from 2016 and 2017.
But roughly eight years later, the Hillbilly Elegy author transformed himself into a staunch supporter of Trump, which aided his elevation as the incoming vice president.
In the sole vice presidential debate in October, Vance claimed that he was “wrong” for his past comments on Trump. “When you screw up, when you misspeak, when you get something wrong, and you change your mind, you ought to be honest with the American people about it,” he explained.
After the debate, Trump claimed Vance’s confident performance “reconfirmed” his choice of Vance as his running mate. As Trump’s No. 2, Vance is poised to be the front-runner in the 2028 presidential GOP primary.
Marco Rubio’s 2016 run against Trump
In 2016, one of Rubio’s most notable attacks against Trump involved him making a sly reference to Trump’s manhood.
The Florida senator claimed Trump had “small hands,” a reference to Trump’s anatomy after Trump branded him as “Little Marco.”
But eight years later, Rubio was a top contender to be Trump’s running mate and ended up with the secretary of state nomination instead.
“This is Trump’s acknowledgment that there’s a certain piece of politics that’s a game,” Jay Townsend, a political consultant based in New York City, said. “What Rubio did to Trump or said about Trump, Trump probably regarded as ‘OK, I was playing with him. He was playing with me. This is something I can forget.’ Furthermore, Rubio is an easy confirmation, meaning he will have less difficulty than Matt Gaetz would have had being confirmed by the Senate.”
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Rubio is now in a prime slot to challenge Vance in 2028 for the presidential primary or even in 2032 if he decides to wait.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’s rocky relationship with Trump
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) may not technically have a role in the next White House, but he is among the top contenders to potentially succeed embattled Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth.
It’s a significant turnaround for DeSantis who served as one of Trump’s two fiercest competitors in the Republican presidential primary. “We don’t need any more presidents that have lost the zip on their fastball,” DeSantis said last October in a harsh criticism of Trump.
But after flaming out of the presidential race one week after he lost the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis has rebuilt his relationship with Trump. It led to DeSantis having a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican National Convention.
The Florida governor is also reportedly expected to attend the Army-Navy football game with Trump this month, another sign that he could be elevated to a top role if Hegseth withdraws his nomination.
“I would be surprised if Gov. DeSantis didn’t get the nomination or didn’t get the nod for secretary of defense, should Trump make a move,” national Republican strategist Brian Seitchik said, pointing to DeSantis’s ability to appoint Trump’s daughter-in-law Lara Trump as the senator who replaces Rubio.
“So that one may be a little more transactional than some of the others,” Seitchik said.
RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard’s past life as Democrats don’t stop plum nominations
Both Robert F. Kenndey Jr. and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard spent their formative years as Democrats, which came with the necessary attacks against Trump.
“Trump has committed an act of war,” Gabbard said in 2020 after Trump approved the strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani.
Kennedy slammed Trump as a “threat to democracy” and derided his base as “outright Nazis” on his radio show Ring of Fire in 2016.
Both ex-Democrats renounced their former party and endorsed Trump’s presidential campaign this year. But their paths to Senate confirmation are not guaranteed.
“Both of these people have burned their bridges in Democratic circles. They are not welcome in that tent. They were run out of that tent a long time ago,” Townsend said. “I would regard this as another piece of Trump’s agenda. He’s going to test the rails of democracy to see how far he can go.”
Vivek Ramaswamy goes from rival to top surrogate
Ramaswamy was one of Trump’s former primary rivals who had little appetite for directly criticizing Trump. But before launching a presidential bid, Ramaswamy did condemn Trump over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“What Trump did last week was wrong,” he wrote on then-Twitter, now X, following the riot. He later told ABC News in 2023, “It is false, and it is a mistake to blame Jan. 6 on Donald Trump,” in a turnaround of his previous comments.
Trump doesn’t appear to have held those comments against Ramaswamy who spent this week on Capitol Hill meeting with lawmakers about what he and Musk will do to slash federal waste through DOGE.
“I’m not surprised by that,” Seitchik said of Trump tapping Ramaswamy with a new perch to influence Washington. “Ramaswamy kind of officially ran against Trump, but he never really ran against Trump.”
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Kristi Noem tapped for Homeland Security Secretary
Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD)’s fervent support for Trump over the ensuing years belies her tepid support for the president-elect in 2015,, when he launched his first campaign.
“Well, he’s not my candidate,” Noem, who originally supported Rubio’s 2016 bid, told WNAX radio.
“People came to this country for religious freedom, so I believe his comments were un-American, and I don’t agree with them,” she also said about Trump.
Now, Noem is poised to become Homeland Security secretary, assuming she passes through Senate confirmation.
Galdieri said that traditional conservatives are a necessity for Trump who has chosen unorthodox nominees. “To get folks who are the sort of normal mainstream Republicans that tend to fill these jobs, he almost doesn’t really have a choice but to go with folks who have criticized him at one time,” he said.
Rep. Elise Stefanik’s transformation from moderate to MAGA Republican
Trump picked Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to serve as the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations despite her past comments slamming his rhetoric against minorities and women in 2015 and 2016.
Stefanik referred to Trump as a “whack job,” according to messages obtained by the New York Times, and reportedly told a New York radio station that he was “insulting to women.”
The New York lawmaker claimed she would be an independent voice in the House, but she quickly aligned with Trumpism, which helped her replace former Rep. Liz Cheney as the House GOP Conference chair.
“She was a consummate moderate, but she went to the other side when it became useful for her to do so, and she’s earned her stripes,” says Townsend, who also pointed out that Stefanik had received overtures to run for New York’s governor race in 2022. “She hasn’t given up on her ambition, but one door was closed to her. So this is a different door that’s been opened to her by Trump, and it’s a way to thank her for the loyalty.”
