What Is Donald Trump’s Cabinet Planning for America?
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
WNYC Studios and The New Yorker
4.2 • 3.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 November 2024
⏱️ 50 minutes
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Summary
The New Yorker staff writers Dexter Filkins and Clare Malone join Tyler Foggatt to examine Donald Trump’s appointments of former congressman Matt Gaetz and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., to his Cabinet.Gaetz, who has been nominated for Attorney General, is one of Trump’s most vociferous defenders and the former subject of a sex-trafficking investigation run by the Department of Justice. (Gaetz has denied all allegations.) Trump has chosen Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, giving one of the world’s most prominent anti-vaccine activists broad powers over public health. How would these men reshape the legal and medical infrastructures of our federal government? And will they even be confirmed?
This week’s reading:
- “How Far Would Matt Gaetz Go?,” by Dexter Filkins
- “R.F.K., Jr.,’s Next Move,” by Clare Malone
- “Why Is Elon Musk Really Embracing Donald Trump?,” By John Cassidy
- “Trump’s Cabinet of Wonders,” by David Remnick
- “The Most Extreme Cabinet Ever,” by Susan B. Glasser
To discover more podcasts from The New Yorker, visit newyorker.com/podcasts. To send feedback on this episode, write to [email protected].
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Donald Trump has started building his cabinet, and it's already set to become one of the most |
| 0:05.8 | extreme in American history. One of Trump's picks is Matt Gates for Attorney General. Gates is a |
| 0:13.1 | longtime magaloyalist, who was among the fiercest allies in Trump's attempt to overturn the results |
| 0:18.3 | of the 2020 election. And although he has denied all allegations, |
| 0:23.7 | Gates is also the former subject of a sex trafficking investigation run by the department |
| 0:28.1 | that he has now been chosen to lead. And then there's Robert F. Kennedy Jr. |
| 0:34.0 | The former third-party presidential candidate, an anti-vax political scion, who was promised |
| 0:39.4 | to roll back a litany of food, health, and pharmaceutical regulations in his projected role as |
| 0:44.8 | Secretary of Health and Human Services. Both Kennedy and Gates could dramatically alter the scope, |
| 0:51.5 | aim, and makeup of the federal government. |
| 0:55.8 | But what might that look like? |
| 0:59.0 | Today on our show, we're welcoming two guests. |
| 1:03.5 | First, Dexter Filkins joins a show to discuss Gates' Road to Power. |
| 1:08.5 | And then we'll talk to Claire Malone about what we can expect from a health system managed by RFK Jr. |
| 1:10.2 | You're listening to the political scene. |
| 1:12.5 | I'm Tyler Foggett, and I'm a senior editor at The New Yorker. |
| 1:21.1 | Hey, Dexter, thanks so much for being here. |
| 1:23.5 | Hi there. |
| 1:24.5 | Earlier this year, you profiled Matt Gates for the magazine, |
| 1:27.8 | and you described him as one of the most brazen, controversial, and influential figures in the Republican Party. |
| 1:34.1 | What was your first reaction to the news that Trump wants Gates to be the next attorney general? |
| 1:40.4 | I mean, I'm astonished, of course, but, but in, and that was my initial reaction, but I think |
... |
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