(Headline USA) President-elect Donald Trump, who flouted normal protocol by assembling a privately funded transition team ahead of last week’s election—thereby staving off the possibility of deep-state meddling—hit the ground running with at least two major appointments Monday morning for his incoming administration.
He named Tom Homan, former acting chief of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, to the position of border czar, an informal role carved out by President Joe Biden and previously assigned to Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Homan will be in charge of all Deportation of Illegal Aliens back to their Country of Origin,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social late Sunday night.
Harris shunned the role, even denying—along with her media allies—that she had ever been designated for the job, despite evidence to the contrary.
Homan, by contrast, has been one of the staunchest advocates for Trump’s border-enforcement agenda.
When pressed by 60 Minutes recently on how the administration could avoid so-called family separations during the deportation process, Homan pointed out that the children of illegal immigrants could be deported alongside their scofflaw parents.
60 Minutes: Is spending billions on deportation worth it?
Former ICE director and Trump ally Tom Homan: What price do you put on our national security?
60 Minutes: Is there a way to carry out mass deportations without separating families?
Homan: Of course there is. Families… pic.twitter.com/olZz2x7emV
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 7, 2024
Trump also announced Monday that he had chosen Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., to serve as his ambassador to the United Nations—a role previously filled by his top primary rival, Nikki Haley during Trump’s first presidential term.
“Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement Monday announcing his pick.
Stefanik, 40, who serves as House Republican Conference Chair, has long been one of Trump’s most loyal allies in the House, and was among those discussed as a potential vice presidential choice.
Born and raised in upstate New York, Stefanik graduated from Harvard and worked in former President George W. Bush’s White House on the domestic policy council and in the chief of staff’s office.
In 2014, at 30, she became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress, representing upstate New York. She later became the youngest woman to serve in House leadership.
Stefanik was known early in her tenure as a more moderate conservative voice. But she soon attached herself to the former president, quietly remaking her image into that of a staunch MAGA ally—and seeing her power ascend.
She became the House Republican Conference Chair in 2021.
Stefanik spent years positioning herself as one of Trump’s most trusted allies and confidants on the Hill. She endorsed him in the 2024 race before he had even launched his bid, and aggressively campaigned on his behalf during the GOP primary.
She saw her profile rise after her aggressive questioning of a trio of university presidents over anti-Semitism on campus led to two of their resignations—a performance Trump repeatedly praised.
She also defended him vigorously in both of his impeachment trials and railed against his four criminal indictments, including filing an ethics complaint in New York against the judge who heard his civil fraud case.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
