There's a common trait that President-elect Donald Trump is clearly prizing as he selects those to serve in his new administration experience on television.
Trump loves that "central casting" look, as he likes to call it.
Some, like his choices for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth , and transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, are TV hosts on Trump's favorite network, Fox News. Mike Huckabee, his choice for U.S. ambassador to Israel, hosted the Fox show "Huckabee" from 2008 to 2015 after his time as Arkansas governor.
Dr. Mehmet Oz , a former syndicated talk show host and heart surgeon, was tapped Tuesday to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that oversees health insurance programs for millions of older, poor and disabled Americans. He would report to Trump's choice for health and human services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., himself a regular on the cable news circuit.
Trump, a former reality television star himself , has made no secret of his intention to stack his administration with loyalists after his decisive 2024 election win - including some whose lack of relevant experience has raised concerns among lawmakers . But he's also working to set up a more forceful administration in this term, and in his eyes, many of those people happen to intersect with celebrity.
