US President-elect Donald Trump has announced a number of upcoming appointments to his team. Trump’s team plans to tighten sanctions against the Russian energy sector, which is one of the main sources of revenue for the Russian army.
Mike Waltz is a national security adviser. Republican congressman from Florida. Comes from a family of Cuban migrants. US Army veteran (the first Special Forces officer in Congress). Verbally supports Ukraine, but voted against helping us.
Pete Hegseth is the Secretary of Defense (Pentagon). One of the hosts of the daily morning news program Fox & Friends on Fox News Channel. A former National Guard officer, he served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. He headed the veterans’ advocacy organization Concerned Veterans for America. At first, he criticized Biden for not supporting Ukraine enough, and then said that “supporting Ukraine should not be a priority for the United States.”
John Ratcliffe is the Director of the CIA. Former Republican from the House of Representatives from Texas and former Director of National Intelligence in the previous Trump Administration. Like Hegseth, he first criticized Biden for not supporting Ukraine enough, and then said that it was better to spend money on his own army and on problems in his own country than to give it to Ukraine.
Christy Noem is the Minister of Homeland Security and the first woman to hold this position. In 2023, she called military aid to Ukraine a “costly strategic mistake.” She also spoke negatively about sanctions against Russia, saying that they “hurt the United States and the American people.” She is currently the governor of South Dakota and was previously on Trump’s list for vice president.
Elise Stefanik is the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations. She is a Republican Congresswoman from the state of New York. She is currently the head of the House Republican Conference (position #4 in the House of Representatives). Until the end of 2023, she supported us, but then she abruptly changed her position and began making anti-Ukrainian statements and voted against the aid package for this year.
Stephen Miller is the Deputy White House Chief of Staff for Political Affairs. He will mainly deal with migration issues.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – Department of Government Effectiveness in the Government.
Steven Witkoff is a special envoy for the Middle East. American real estate investor.
Thomas Homan is the Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Border Security and Immigration Enforcement. He served as Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2017-2018. He has held senior positions at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency under both the Obama and Trump administrations.
Lee Zeldin – Environmental Protection Agency. Former Republican Congressman in the House of Representatives from New York State.
There are advisors in the Donald Trump administration who are cautious or even skeptical about supporting Ukraine. Recently, Donald Trump Jr. made sarcastic remarks about Ukraine, hinting at the possibility of reducing aid. In addition, the appointment of Marco Rubio as Secretary of State was a disappointment to Trump supporters who expected a more conservative candidate, such as former Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, who has a tougher view of the amount of support for Ukraine.
Instead, there is concern in Kyiv and among NATO countries that a peace deal that Trump may initiate will only be a temporary pause, allowing Russia to regroup and prepare for a new wave of hostilities. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhiy Tykhyi emphasized that Ukraine has repeatedly been right in its warnings about Russia’s actions, which other partner countries initially ignored.
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