John Charles Rood is an American national security adviser and former government official who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from January 2018 to February 2020. Before that,he was Senior Vice President of Lockheed Martin where he oversaw international business. He also served as vice president for Domestic Business Development at Lockheed Martin and he was a vice president at the Raytheon Company.
Robert Leon Wilkie Jr. is an American lawyer and government official who served as the United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2018 to 2021,during the Trump administration. He was previously Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness during the Trump administration,from November 2017 to July 2018. A Naval intelligence officer in the Reserve,he was Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs in the administration of President George W. Bush.
The Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) is a principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps general who served as the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 1,2015 to September 30,2019. He was the 36th commandant of the Marine Corps. Dunford is the first Marine Corps officer to serve in four different four-star positions;the others include commander of the International Security Assistance Force and United States Forces –Afghanistan from February 2013 to August 2014,and as the thirty-second assistant commandant of the Marine Corps from October 23,2010 to December 15,2012. He has commanded several units,including the 5th Marine Regiment during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that,Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013,and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps;Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014,he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense,he went on to serve on the board of Raytheon. As of October 2023,he serves on the Special Competitive Studies Project's board of advisors.
Donald Trump assumed office as president of the United States on January 20,2017,and his term ended on January 20,2021. The president has the authority to nominate members of his Cabinet to the United States Senate for confirmation under the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution.
This is a list of political appointments of current officeholders made by the 45th president of the United States,Donald Trump.
Patrick “Pat”Michael Shanahan is an American businessman. the president and chief executive officer of Spirit AeroSystems. He is a former United States federal government official who served as the acting United States Secretary of Defense in 2019. President Donald Trump appointed Shanahan to the role after the resignation of Jim Mattis. Prior to that,Shanahan served as Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019. Before his government service,he previously spent 30 years at Boeing in a variety of roles.
Richard Vaughn Spencer is an American politician and businessman who served as the 76th United States Secretary of the Navy from August 3,2017,to November 24,2019. While serving as Secretary of the Navy,he also briefly served as Acting United States Secretary of Defense and Acting United States Deputy Secretary of Defense. Spencer served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1976 to 1981 as a Marine Aviator and also served as Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Intercontinental Exchange from November 2001 to January 2008. Spencer served as Secretary of the Navy from August 3,2017,to November 24,2019,when Secretary of Defense Mark Esper requested his resignation over his handling of the Eddie Gallagher case. Spencer was displeased that the White House interfered and pressured him to let Gallagher retire as a Navy SEAL.
David Lutz Norquist is an American financial management professional and former government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In May of 2022,Norquist was selected as the president and chief executive officer of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
Elaine A. McCusker is an American government official who served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller),one of the offices of United States Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense,from 2017 to 2020.
Kenneth P. Rapuano is an American Marine who has held various global security-related posts within the U.S. federal government. He most recently served from June 2017 to January 2021 as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Global Security in the United States Department of Defense,having been confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 12,2017,by a vote of 95–1.
Kari Bingen is an American policy analyst and government official who served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence,the second-highest ranking civilian intelligence job in The Pentagon. She was confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate on May 25,2017 and sworn in on June 5,2017. According to a Pentagon spokesman,Bingen resigned on December 5,2019 and will leave the Pentagon on January 10,2020. The spokesman added that this is a normal rotation.
Ryan D. McCarthy is an American business executive and former U.S. Army Ranger who served as the 24th United States Secretary of the Army,from 2019 to 2021. He previously held the office in an acting capacity in 2017 and 2019.
Ellen M. Lord is an American businesswoman and government official who previously served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment in the Trump administration. She was previously the CEO of Textron Systems,a global aerospace,defense,security,and advanced technologies industrial conglomerate. In her position,she was the chief weapons purchaser for the United States,responsible for overseeing hundreds of billions of dollars of weapons and services acquisitions programs in the United States Department of Defense.
Kathryn Lynn Wheelbarger is an American attorney and government official,who served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs from 2018 to 2020.
Michael John Kotsakas Kratsios is an American business executive and government official. He served as the fourth Chief Technology Officer of the United States at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role,Kratsios served as President Donald Trump's top technology advisor. From July 10,2020 to January 20,2021,Kratsios was also the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering.
Alyssa Farah Griffin is an American political strategist and television personality. She was the White House Director of Strategic Communications and Assistant to the President in 2020 during the presidency of Donald Trump. She is a co-host of the daytime talk show The View and also appears on CNN as a political commentator.
John Jefferson "Jeff" Daigle is an American diplomat who serves as the United States Ambassador to Cabo Verde,being sworn in on June 28,2019. Immediately prior to his Ambassadorship,Daigle served as Acting Executive Director for the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy and Chief of Staff for the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Daigle is one of five LGBT appointed ambassadors under the Trump administration.
Christopher Charles Miller is an American retired United States Army Special Forces colonel who served as acting United States secretary of defense from November 9,2020,to January 20,2021. He previously served as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center from August 10 to November 9,2020. Before his civilian service in the Department of Defense,Miller was a Green Beret,commanding 5th Special Forces Group in Iraq and Afghanistan,and later spent time as a defense contractor.
