As Trump picks Cabinet, Musk suggests Trump let public weigh in

Donald Trump speaks while wearing a tuxedo.

By Will Weissert

Nov. 16, 2024 Updated 1:42 PM PT

PALM BEACH, Fla. — President-elect Donald Trump made his selection for Energy secretary on Saturday, even as a key ally, billionaire Elon Musk, called for more direct public input into the decision-making process for another top post: the head of the Treasury Department.

Trump picked Chris Wright, CEO of Denver-based Liberty Energy, to lead the Department of Energy. Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump’s plan for achieving U.S. “energy dominance” in the global market.

Wright has been one of the industry’s loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change and could give fossil fuels a boost — including quick action to end a yearlong pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration. Wright has criticized what he calls a “top-down” approach on climate by left-leaning groups and said the climate movement around the world is “collapsing under its own weight.”

The announcement of Wright’s selection came hours after Musk mused about the president-elect’s yet-to-be-made Treasury secretary choice.

“Would be interesting to hear more people weigh in on this for @realDonaldTrump to consider feedback,” Musk, who Trump has already tapped to co-lead a commission tasked with increasing government spending efficiency, posted Saturday on his social media platform, X.

Musk then used the rest of his post to become the first participant in the public poll he was proposing. He endorsed Howard Lutnick, the CEO of financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald and co-chair of Trump’s transition team, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.

Musk said in his post that “Bessent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change.”

“Business-as-usual is driving America bankrupt, so we need change,” he said.

Both Lutnick and Bessent have been mentioned as possible picks to lead the Treasury Department during Trump’s second administration. Bessent is considered the more conventional, business-friendly choice. He is skeptical about cryptocurrency, while Lutnick has suggested it could be used for people to pay their taxes.

A short time later, Trump’s pick to lead his Health and Human Services Department, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., also endorsed Lutnick, posting on his own X account, “Bitcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans.

“Bitcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,” he wrote, misspelling Lutnick’s last name.

The president-elect has already announced many picks in recent days, including his choice for secretary of State, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and attorney general, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, also of Florida.

On Friday, he named Karoline Leavitt, his campaign press secretary, to serve as White House press secretary. Leavitt, 27, currently a spokesperson for Trump’s transition, would be the youngest White House press secretary in history. Previously that distinction went to Ronald Ziegler, who was 29 when he took the position in 1969 in President Nixon’s administration.

The White House press secretary typically serves as the public face of the administration and historically has held daily briefings for the press corps. Trump disrupted those norms in his first term, preferring to serve as his own chief spokesperson. While he was president from 2017 to 2021, Trump had four press secretaries but frequently preferred to engage directly with the public, from his rallies, social media posts and his own briefings.

During Trump’s first term in office, Leavitt worked in the White House press office. She then became communications director for New York Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, whom Trump has tapped to serve as his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Trump still has other key slots to fill, including the heads of the Education and Labor departments — as well as Treasury — and many potential contenders have been jockeying to improve their standing with Trump.

Separately, Trump said he’d picked a member of his legal team and former federal prosecutor, Will Scharf, as assistant to the president and White House staff secretary.

That announcement came as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., this weekend, meeting with the president-elect. Trump was set to head to Saturday night’s UFC heavyweight championship fight at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Except for a day trip to Washington this week to meet with President Biden and separately address House Republicans, Trump has been spending his time since the election at Mar-a-Lago, which has hosted galas and conservative events.

A return to Madison Square Garden means revisiting the place where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by calling Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Yet Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades.

Trump has been close to Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White for more than two decades. White hosted a 2001 UFC battle at Trump Taj Mahal, a former casino-hotel in Atlantic City, N.J., and Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since — including during his 2024 campaign. Trump has turned up at fights recently with entourages including White, musician Kid Rock and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.

In 2018, during Trump’s first term, he and White appeared in a UFC video in which the then-president was dubbed the “Combatant In Chief.”

As Trump has strengthened his grip on the Republican Party, White’s personal political profile has grown exponentially. He spoke at the 2016, 2020 and 2024 Republican conventions, and addressed the crowd at Trump’s Florida victory party in the early morning after election day.

Weissert writes for the Associated Press.