Two items to consider that broke last night:
Donald Trump has selected Fox News anchor Pete Hegseth to be his Secretary of Defense
Mediaite reports that Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer, is the current frontrunner to be the White House Press Secretary
Both of these reports are a very good reminder that the most important factor to Trump when selecting the people to populate his administration is whether they, to his mind, look the part.
Trump’s shorthand for this is “central casting,” a term he used throughout the 2016 campaign and while in the White House.
This isn’t solely about being good looking — although that absolutely plays a role. It’s also about whether you fit the image of what Trump imagines someone in that job should look like.
In his first term, for example, he was drawn to Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State because Tillerson was a big, imposing figure with silver hair — Trump’s image of what the nation’s top diplomat should look like.
And he was attracted to generals like James Mattis and John Kelly because of their short haircuts and no-nonsense demeanors. (I remain convinced that Tump picked Mattis as his first Defense Secretary because he like the general’s “Mad Dog” nickname, which he wrongly claimed he coined.)
Nothing has changed in 8 years time. This Axios report on Trump’s set-up at Mar-a-Lago as he makes these staffing decisions is revealing on that front:
President-elect Trump plans to weigh in on roughly 40 top cabinet, agency and White House jobs from a makeshift Situation Room at Mar-a-Lago, where he's surrounded by TV monitors displaying profiles of potential picks.
The interactive array lets aides instantly summon a multimedia menu covering whatever position or person he wants to consider next, transition sources tell us…
…Each digital dossier includes tightly edited clips of a prospect's TV appearances, so Trump can get a sense of how effective they'd be in delivering his message.
The video also helps him gauge whether they fit his Central Casting vision of authoritative, impressive underlings.
None of this is to say that how someone does on TV is unimportant. Or to deride the qualifications of someone like Hegseth, who is a decorated member of the military.
It’s simply to point out that looks and, well, vibes matter more to Trump when he is filling out his senior staff and Cabinet jobs than what’s on your resume. And that’s a change from how past presidents have done things.
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The Morning: "Central Casting"