Giving Peace a Chance? Trump’s Cabinet Picks Are Neocons, Warmongers, and Pro-Zionist Fanatics
President-elect Donald J. Trump will hit the ground running on January 21st, 2025. Trump has made his choices for the top spots at the Department of State, the Pentagon and the CIA. Let’s keep in mind that Trump can replace or fire any of his cabinet picks down the road if of course, they are confirmed by the senate. So far, it seems that Trump has flushed his peace proposals down the toilet with his latest picks.
First and formost, for the state of Israel, it really did not matter who would have won the US Presidential elections, whether it was Donald J. Trump (which they preferred) or Kamala Harris who was just as Pro-Israel as most US politicians who are bought and paid by the American Israel Political Action Committee (AIPAC). The majority of politicians, whether Democrat or Republican believe that Israel has a right to exist on what was once called Palestine, so the reality is that Israel won the election. The one person who is extremely happy that Trump won the election is no other than Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu who recently said that
“In the last few days, I spoke three times with President-Elect Donald Trump. These were very good and important conversations. Talks designed to further tighten the strong alliance between Israel and the USA. We see eye to eye on the Iranian threat, on all its components, and the danger posed by it.”
Trump claims that he wants peace, but his cabinet choices says that he is planning a war against Iran. So, with Trump resuming office in January, the world is heading into uncertain times. Iran is about to retaliate for Israel’s latest attack and government officials in Tel Aviv are very concerned. It is certain that Israel will prepare to retaliate once Trump is in office, but what will that look like? We don’t know, but it is not just about Iran being in Washington’s hit list, because Russia, Belarus, China, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and the new BRICS alliance will most likely on that same list as well.
Peace is not on the agenda with Trump’s new cabinet picks because they want the US to be ultimate hegemon, the power that rules the world with an iron fist but the times have changed. Trump’s team will push for wars, regime change and economic sanctions, so in other words, nothing will change since his cabinet has been filled with neocons, warhawks and Pro-Israel extremists.
Meet Trump’s New Cabinet, Same as the Old Cabinet
Trump has selected several people for important cabinet positions related to US foreign policy and it does not look good for any sort of peace deal, especially in the Middle East.
Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for Secretary of State is a senator from Florida and a neocon warmonger, Marco Rubio. This pick suggests that Trump was looking for another Mike Pompeo and found him. Rubio is a strong supporter of Israel, so much so that he has an Israeli flag next to the American flag outside of his office. Rubio has supported Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank and other Palestinan territories. Rubio has shamelessly defended Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and Lebanon.
In 2003, Rubio supported the US invasion of Iraq, and the US-NATO led war on Libya which was orchestrated by the Obama regime. Rubio supports harsh sanctions and regime change in Iran and in Syria. He also supported Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen. Rubio seeks regime change or wars against several Latin American countries including Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and whoever else opposes US influence on the continent.
Rubio is also a China hawk, so he supports sending more US troops in the Asia-Pacific region to send China a “message.”
Rubio also got involved in the internal affairs of China. A report by DW.com, ‘Could Marco Rubio champion human rights in Southeast Asia?’ said that in 2018, Rubio co-sponsored legislation based on “the Reciprocal Access to Tibet Act, which seeks to deny entry into the United States to any Chinese officials who prohibit US citizens from entering Tibet, a territory claimed by China.” Rubio also “introduced legislation sanctioning China for its repression of the minority Uyghur population and the crackdown on protests in Hong Kong. The Chinese government responded by blacklisting Rubio.”
The bottom line is that Senator Marco Rubio is a neocon warmonger that would advise Trump on going to war rather than seeking a constructive peace deal. Rubio is a horrible choice that will likely be confirmed by his many friends from both sides of the aisle in the senate.
Elise Stefanik, another pro-Zionist neocon who was nominated by Trump to become US Ambassador to the United Nations. She is a clone of the last US ambassador, Nikki Haley. Stefanik once worked with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a pro-Israel neocon think tank.
To understand Stefanik’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict, all you need to do is read her statement she posted on her website on September 23rd, 2024 based on Israel’s “right to defend itself”:
“Last week, the United Nations overwhelmingly passed a disgraceful antisemitic resolution to demand that Israel surrender to barbaric terrorists who seek the destruction of both Israel and America. Once again, the UN’s antisemitic rot is on full display as it punishes Israel for defending itself and rewards Iranian-backed terrorists.
Instead of deplorably targeting the legitimacy of the state of Israel, the UN should be demanding that Hamas release every hostage and start enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1701 to stop Hezbollah’s endless Iranian-backed terrorist attacks. As the UN’s General Assembly occurs this week in New York, the Biden-Harris Administration must call out the UN’s extreme antisemitism and moral depravity and unequivocally support Israel’s right to defend itself against both brutal terrorists and biased international organizations”
We know where all of this is going. Stefanik visited the Israeli Knesset in Jerusalem in May and here is just part of what she said:
Today, I stand before you not just as a leader in the United States Congress, but as a lifelong admirer, supporter, and true friend of Israel and the Jewish people. You see I am lucky enough to have had the privilege of traveling here many times before, but I must confess that this time feels different.
The stakes are higher. Our sense of moral, patriotic duty feels heightened, renewed.
226 days ago, we witnessed the most vicious, brutal attack on Israel and the Jewish people since the Holocaust, a barbaric terrorist attack that claimed more than 1,200 innocent lives. Civilian women, children, and the elderly were ripped from their homes and massacred. Raped — Beheaded — Jewish families were bound together and burned. Babies burned alive. Atrocities of humanity. We must never forget, and we must never relent
Stefanik repeated Israeli talking points about how the elderly and children were massacred, raped and beheaded which all turned out to be lies. Stefanik is another Nikki Haley, there is no doubt about that, and she will be most likely confirmed by the senate.
Mike Huckabee is Trump’s pick for U.S. Ambassador to Israel is a non-Jewish candidate for the position, but that does not matter because Huckabee, a former Arkansas Governor is an evangelical Christian supporter of Israel and that’s all that matters.
This guy should be in an insane asylum. The things that came out of this man’s mouth is a sign that the Palestinians will be a major target of the Trump regime.
The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) “In 2008, Huckabee said:
“There’s really no such thing as a Palestinian. You have Arabs and Persians. And there’s such complexity in that. But there’s really no such thing. That’s been a political tool to try and force land away from Israel.”
Mike Huckabee sounded like what Golda Meir, the former Prime Minister of Israel from 1969 to 1974 who was interviewed by the London Sunday Times on June 15th, 1969, and she said that
“There was no such thing as Palestinians. When was there an independent Palestinian people with a Palestinian state? It was either Southern Syria, before the First World War, and then it was a Palestine, including Jordan. It was not as though there was a Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian people and we came and threw them out and took their country from them. They did not exist.”
Al Jazeera reported on what Trump said about Huckabee who has similar beliefs as his former US ambassador from Trump’s first term, David Friedman:
After his appointment, Trump released a statement in which he said Huckabee “loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about Peace in the Middle East!”
His appointment demonstrates a “very hawkish, very pro-right-wing Israel” approach by the Trump administration, Yossi Mekelberg, an expert on Israel at the Chatham House think tank, told Al Jazeera. He said Huckabee’s appointment is similar to that of David Friedman, who served as US Ambassador to Israel between 2017 and 2021 and supports Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank
Huckabee will also be most likely confirmed for the ambassadorship with the pro-Israel senate.
Rep. Mike Waltz from Florida is a nominee for Trump’s National Security Advisor who served more than 26 years in the Army as a Special Forces officer with tours in Afghanistan, Africa and the Middle East. Waltz was a defense policy director for secretaries of defense under Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates who both served under former US President and war criminal, George W. Bush. Walz also served as Dick Cheney’s counterterrorism advisor.
For Trump’s peace plan to end the war between Russia and Ukraine, here is what Waltz said
“I think a second Trump term will be energy policy and the fact is that sanctions haven’t been enforced on Russia. They’re selling more oil and gas through China and India than they ever did even before the war, their war machine is flush with cash. President Trump is, I think going to get him to the table very quickly because if he enforces those sanctions, the old adage, Russia is a little more than a gas station with nukes, absolutely holds true.”
So Waltz is for increasing sanctions on Russia which is a form of economic warfare.
Waltz has called for a “new Monroe Doctrine” to counter the rise of China in Latin America. He suggests an active role by US officials to counter China’s economic and military presence in Latin America, so Walz wants a US military build-up to confront Beijing’s influence. Not only does he want to increase US military presence in certain regions to send a message to China, he wants to arm Taiwan to defend itself from China.
Waltz is also a full-fledged supporter of Israel. In an interview on FOX News, Waltz spoke about a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, and he said that the Biden regime is “focused on the wrong place,”meaning they should be focused on Iran. Waltz also said that Iran is “flush with cash.” He also said that neither Hamas nor Iran want peace.
“So, the administration, Biden and Harris, have sold themselves is that once we get to a cease-fire and the hostages are released, which we all want, that everything will be fine,” Waltz said on Fox News’s America Reports. “No. Iran will continue to stoke unrest because they want to destroy Israel, and look, making concession after concession to Iran is actually what is destabilizing the situation.”
Waltz has criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister, Yoav Gallant on charges of intentional starvation of the Palestinian people, crimes against humanity and other charges. Waltz responded with
“The ICC has no credibility, and these allegations have been refuted by the US government” and that “Israel has lawfully defended its people [and] borders from genocidal terrorists. You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC [and] UN come January.”
Mike Waltz part of the George W. Bush regime that was filled with neocons and that alone should be a concern for those who desire peace on earth. Waltz has similar ideas as Trump’s former National Security advisor, John Bolton.
Pete Hegseth is Trump’s pick for US Secretary of Defense. Now this guy is a loose cannon. A FOX News television host, author, and a former Army National Guard officer. Listen to Pete Hegseth’s speech at the 2018 Arutz Sheva conference in Jerusalem:
What Hegseth said about Iran tells us that he is another Christian Zionist who supports Israel and that Iran is the evil regime that needs to be stopped:
The minister talked about the head of the octopus talked about Iran and the many tentacles that the Iranian regime has in the world today nefariously both for Israel and for the United States and just all you have to do is look at how the Obama Administration addressed the issue of Iran versus the Trump Administration and of course the Obama Administration did everything they could to strike a horrific deal that is creates an inevitable path to nuclear weapons, funding the tunes of billions of dollars the hateful terrorist is Iranian regime seeking death to America and death to Israel….
Pete Hegseth will push the Trump regime to go to war with Iran and its allies to protect Israel and its interests in the region, there is no other way to describe what he stands for.
Kristi Noem, the former Governor of South Dakota is Trump’s pick for the Secretary of Homeland Security. As Governor, Kristi Noem presented a statement of support for Israel after the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas, and she did not disappoint her Israeli friends and lobbyists:
“Beloved people of Israel: your friends and allies in America stand with you. We support you in defending the homeland given to your people by God. These barbaric actions have shocked the conscience of the world. We share your anger at the viciousness of these attacks and the death, pain, and suffering it has caused, and we support your right to use all measures necessary to prevent future attacks.
During my time on the House Armed Services Committee, I saw what regular violence perpetrated by Hamas terrorists against Israel looks like. This goes so far beyond that – this was an act of war, an invasion of your sacred home.
We are praying for a swift resolution to this war; for safety and peace for the hostages taken by the Hamas terrorists; for comfort to the families who have lost loved ones or whose lives have otherwise been forever changed by this horrific day; for the first responders to act calmly and quickly in their work of healing and repair; for Prime Minister Netanyahu and his armed forces to strike swiftly, truly, and with justice; and for Hamas to be driven from the face of the Earth as a just consequence for their atrocities. In the coming days, all Americans – and the whole world – must stand firm in our resolve to support the Israeli people. As Prime Minister Netanyahu said, ‘This war will take time. She will be hard. Challenging days are ahead. But… with the help of God… we will win.’ Godspeed to you, my friend Prime Minister Netanyahu, and to your people. You will win, and you have our support every step of the way.”
Kristi Noem has also banned campus free speech zones in her home state so as Secretary of Homeland Security, will she target anti-Israel protesters on college campuses?
John Ratcliffe is Trump’s choice as the new Director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This former Director of National Intelligence (DNI) is another China Hawk and of course, a Pro-Israel supporter.
As DNI, Ratcliffe focused on China’s growing influence on a global scale. Ratcliffe’s commentary for the Wall Street Journal said it all, ‘China Is National Security Threat No. 1’:
“The intelligence is clear: Beijing intends to dominate the U.S. and the rest of the planet economically, militarily and technologically. Many of China’s major public initiatives and prominent companies offer only a layer of camouflage to the activities of the Chinese Communist Party”
Ratcliffe is also a longtime supporter of Israel who helped establish the U.S.-Israel partnership in cyber defense through the US-Israel Advanced Research Partnership Act in 2016.
Ratcliffe who praised Israel’s strikes on Iran told Maria Bartiromo of Sunday Morning Futures on FOX News,
“What Israel has done is essentially employ ‘the Trump doctrine’: a maximum-pressure campaign, understanding the only way to deter terrorists like Iran and their proxies is to put your foot on their throat. Israel has done that; we should be assisting Israel in doing so.”
Ratcliffe is a Trump loyalist, a China hawk and a Pro-Israel supporter which means that he is a qualified candidate, so the US Senate should have no problem confirming John Ratcliffe as the new Director of the CIA.
Tulsi Gabbard is Trump’s choice for the Director of National Intelligence (DIA). Now this pick is quite interesting, but she has a couple of serious problems. I know there are people in the alternative media that say Gabbard is “Pro-Peace,” to an extent, is partially true.
So, let’s start with the idea that Tulsi Gabbard is a peace activist. Tulsi Gabbard is a former Democrat representative from Hawaii who in January 2017 went on a “fact-finding mission” to Syria to investigate if President Bashar al-Assad’s had ordered his forces to use chemical weapons on civilians which turned out to be a false accusation by the West. She also found out that the Syrian opposition were made up of members from Al-Qaeda and ISIS. Gabbard spoke out against US politicians who accused Russia of invading Ukraine for no apparent reason, only to expand its already vast territory. She is also opposed to US military support for Ukraine.
Gabbard had accused the US government and its NATO allies of being responsible for the war in the first place since one of the reasons was for the possibility of allowing Ukraine to join NATO which is a direct threat to Russia. She also spoke out on the US government operating secret bioweapons labs in Ukraine.
Yes, Tulsi Gabbard has done great things in efforts to end current wars by investigating the facts of what really happened. She was after the truth which is commendable.
However, there is another side to Tulsi Gabbard when it comes to Israel. You can’t be for peace on one side of the world and then call for war on the other side, it’s hypocritical. Many people portray Gabbard as some sort of anti-war hero, but she has been vocally supportive of Israel’s wars on Gaza and Lebanon.
Gabbard is seen by Trump and his MAGA base as “anti-establishment” but her support for Israel is aligned with both sides of the political circus in Washington D.C. Gabbard has even criticized pro-Palestine protesters in the US by calling them “puppets” of Hamas.
Gabbard also opposes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas just like Trump who called on Netanyahu to finish the job before he enters office in January. Gabbard also believes that Israel should continue the war on Gaza “as long as Hamas is in power, the people of Israel will not be secure and cannot live in peace.”
This video was produced by Breakthrough News which exposes Tulsi Gabbard’s position on Israel when it comes to Hamas and the Palestinians:
Tulsi Gabbard said all the right things for Israel and that’s why she was picked by Trump. Will she get confirmed by the Senate? It’s hard to say since many Democrats believe she works for Syria and Russia as some sort of agent, so we will see what happens during the confirmation hearings.
Pam Bondi is Trump’s pick for US Attorney General who happens to be another pro-Israel supporter after the US Representative from Florida, Matt Gaetz withdrew his nomination over past legal issues involving a minor had resurfaced. Matt Gaetz also faced criticism because he invited a Holocaust denier to a State of the Union address which is something that can destroy your political career in United States:
In 2018, the Republican Jewish Coalition and the Anti-Defamation League both criticized Gaetz, then in his first term, for inviting a Holocaust denier as his guest at the State of the Union address. The guest, Charles Johnson, had publicly doubted that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust and suggested falsely that only 250,000 had died of illness
According to Jewish groups and the ADL, Gaetz is an Antisemite:
This past spring, Gaetz, alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, opposed a bill that would codify an official definition of antisemitism because it classified the view that Jews killed Jesus — which Gaetz endorsed — as antisemitic.
“The Gospel itself would meet the definition of antisemitism under the terms of this bill!” Gaetz wrote on X, adding, “The Bible is clear. There is no myth or controversy on this”
It seemed obvious that Matt Gaetz was not going to be part of Trump’s team right from the start since most Democrats and Republicans are in the pockets of the Israeli lobby. Pam Bondi is on a different level; she believes that university students who protest Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians and others in the Middle East are ignorant people who should be deported.
The Jerusalem Post headlined with ‘Trump’s new A-G nominee calls Palestine supporters “ignorant children.’ The article mentioned “In an interview this year with news host Chris Salcedo, Bondi addressed the pro-Palestinian protests on US college campuses, saying, “The students who protest against our Jewish friends and support Hamas – they should be deported from our country, they are ignorant children.”
The Jerusalem Post article also mentioned that in 2018, Bondi was interviewed by FOX News, and was asked about the Israel-Palestine conflict:
“Israel is one of our greatest allies in the world, if not the greatest,” Bondi said as part of an interview about concerns of escalation in the Middle East. “I visited Israel twice as Attorney-General, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital”
So, Trump’s pick for Attorney General satisfies the Israeli lobby who wants to stifle free speech or in other words, end free speech when it comes to criticizing the state of Israel. In fact, Trump did say that those who protest Israel and their genocidal policies should be deported. The Telegraph headlined with a title that says it all, ‘Pam Bondi: Pick to replace Matt Gaetz wants to deport pro-Palestine protestors’:
The former prosecutor is a firm supporter of Israel and called for a crackdown on pro-Hamas demonstrations that erupted at college campuses last year.
“The thing that’s really the most troubling to me [are] these students in universities in our country, whether they’re here as Americans or if they’re here on student visas, and they’re out there saying ‘I support Hamas.’” she continued, “Frankly they need to be taken out of our country, or the FBI needs to be interviewing them right away”
Will Pam Bondi work with Noem Kristi to deport anti-Israel, anti-genocide Protesters on university campuses?
Trump also picked another far-right neocon, a NewsMax TV host of the The Gorka Reality Check, Sebastian Gorka for the positions of deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism. Gorka was part of the first Trump administration and was appointed Deputy Assistant to the President and a strategist in the White House team which was known as the Strategic Initiatives Group.
On an interview with Times Radio, Gorka claims what will Trump say to Putin “I’ll give one tip away that the president has mentioned, he will say to that murderous former KGB Colonel that thug who runs the Russian Federation, you will negotiate now or the aid that we have given to Ukraine thus far will look like peanuts.” So Trump’s claim that he will end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours is not a reality with people such as Sebastian Gorka in his cabinet.
There are other Trump nominees such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr who supports Israel, if confirmed, he will be the Secretary of Health & Human Services (HHS) and there will be others with the same ideologies as mentioned above that will be in Trump’s future cabinet because as we all know, Trump can replace any of his picks on a whim.
What is certain in an uncertain world is that President-Elect, Donald Trump and his choices for his top positions is a recipe for a world war, not peace. China, Iran, Russia and other countries who are on the US hit list will face a regime full of warmongering extremists and that is not a good start. For the looks of it, it seems that war is on the agenda once again.
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Timothy Alexander Guzman writes on his own blog site, Silent Crow News, where this article was originally published. He is a regular contributor to Global Research.
Featured image is from SCN