page_title: Donald Trump
section_title: Presidential transition
hierarchical_section_title: Donald Trump / 2016 presidential campaign / Presidential transition
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of State
context_page_description: Donald John Trump is the 45th and current President of the United States. Before becoming president, he was a businessman and television personality. Trump was also the chairman and president of The Trump Organization. Much of his money was made in real estate in New York City, Las Vegas, and Atlantic City. He used to own the Miss Universe pageant. He was the star in his own reality show The Apprentice. In October 2019, Trump changed his official residency state from New York to Florida.
  In June 2015, Trump announced that he would run for President of the United States in the 2016 presidential election. Starting mid-July, polls showed that Trump was the front-runner in the Republican field. This was true even after much criticism from his party due to his comments on illegal immigration, Muslims, and ISIS. His campaign has gained support from mostly middle-class families. It has gained opposition from Democrats, some Republicans, business people, some world leaders and the pope.
  On May 4, 2016, Trump became the presumptive nominee after his only remaining challengers, Texas United States senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich, dropped out.
context_section_description: Trump's transition team was led by Chris Christie until November 11, 2016, when Vice President-elect Mike Pence took over. His nominees for cabinet and other positions include:
  RNC chairman Reince Priebus as White House Chief of Staff
  Businessman and media executive Steve Bannon as Counselor to the President.
  Senator Jeff Sessions as Attorney General
  Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as National Security Advisor (Resigned on February 13, 2017)
  Education reform activist Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education
  Governor Nikki Haley as Ambassador to the United Nations
  Attorney General of Oklahoma Scott Pruitt as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
  Businesswoman Linda McMahon as Administrator of the Small Business Administration.
  U.S. Representative Mick Mulvaney as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.
  Lawyer Robert Lighthizer as United States Trade Representative.
  Former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao as Secretary of Transportation
  U.S. Representative Tom Price as Secretary of Health and Human Services
  Former campaign rival Ben Carson as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
  Financier Steven Mnuchin as Secretary of the Treasury
  Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross as Secretary of Commerce
  Marine Corps General James Mattis as Secretary of Defense
  Marine Corps General John F. Kelly as Secretary of Homeland Security
  Businessman Andrew Puzder as Secretary of Labor (Withdrew nomination February 15, 2017)
  CEO of ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State
  Former Governor Rick Perry as Secretary of Energy
  U.S. Representative Ryan Zinke as Secretary of the Interior
  U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.
  Under Secretary for Health David Shulkin as Secretary of Veterans Affairs
  Former Governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue as Secretary of Agriculture
  U.S. Senator Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence.
caption: Rex Tillerson was nominated to be Secretary of State[73]
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