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THE FOX-TRUMP 2.0 REVOLVING DOOR  
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Matt Gertz
November 13, 2024
Media Matters for America
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_ Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence. Pete Hegseth,
secretary of defense. Tom Homan, “Border Czar.” Mike Huckabee,
ambassador to Israel. Michael Waltz, national security adviser. That's
so far. _

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Incoming president Donald Trump’s unprecedented relationship with
Fox News is once again creating a revolving door between the
right-wing propaganda network and his administration. Trump has named
three current or former Fox employees to high-ranking positions in the
week since he was elected president — and more seem sure to follow.

Trump, an obsessive Fox viewer whose worldview is shaped
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the network’s programming, stocked his first-term White House and
federal agencies with familiar faces from the network. At least 20
people
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Fox on their resumes joined his administration over the course of his
tenure, including Cabinet secretaries, top White House aides, and
ambassadors. 

Trump also consulted privately
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an array of Fox stars, creating a shadow Cabinet of advisers with
immense influence over government affairs whose key credential was
their ability to attract attention via right-wing bombthrowing. And he
frequently made important decisions
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on what people were telling him on his favorite network — at times
with disastrous results.

As Trump ramps up his second term, he is once again plucking top
administration officials from the network’s stable. 

The list below will be updated as additional former Fox employees join
or leave the Trump administration.

* Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence.
Gabbard is a former Democratic member of Congress who ran a quixotic
campaign for the party’s presidential nomination in 2020. Fox hired
her
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a contributor in 2022 amid a political transformation
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saw her become a favorite
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Tucker Carlson and the MAGA movement, adopt increasingly hard-right
rhetoric
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and ultimately endorse
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presidential run. Trump announced
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November 13, 2024, that he plans to nominate Gabbard as director of
national intelligence, a position that oversees the 18 U.S.
intelligence agencies.

* Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense.
After serving in the Army National Guard and as executive director of
a right-wing veteran’s organization, Hegseth joined
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as a contributor in 2014 and subsequently became a co-host of _Fox &
Friends’ _weekend edition. In that role he caught Trump's eye, with
the then-president reportedly considering him for secretary of
veterans affairs and taking the Fox host’s advice in granting
executive clemency to several service members accused or convicted
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war crimes. On November 12, 2024, Trump announced
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he plans to nominate Hegseth for defense secretary, which would give
the cable news figure oversight of a sprawling bureaucracy staffed
by nearly 3 million
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employees that spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

* Tom Homan, “Border Czar.”
Homan joined
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as a contributor in August 2018, two months after his retirement as
acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (where he
reportedly served
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the “intellectual ‘father’” of Trump’s family separation
policy). As a Fox employee, he staunchly supported
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immigration policies and statements and called for draconian responses
to the purported migrant “invasion.” Trump announced
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November 10, 2024, that he is naming Homan “Border Czar” and
giving him responsibility for the mass deportation of undocumented
immigrants.

* Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel.
Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas, hosted
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weekly Fox program for more than six years before stepping down in
2015 to explore a presidential run. He subsequently rebooted
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show for the Christian cable network Trinity Broadcasting Network and
has remained a frequent Fox commentator who the network sporadically
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Trump announced
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November 12, 2024, that he plans to nominate Huckabee as U.S.
ambassador to Israel.

* Michael Waltz, national security adviser
An Army veteran and Republican member of Congress from Florida
who served [[link removed]] as an adviser in the
Pentagon and White House, Waltz became a paid
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contributor
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2017, the year before he was first elected to the U.S. House. He
still touts [[link removed]] that credential on his
campaign website. Waltz made at least 569 Fox appearances between
August 2017 and Election Day 2024. His 176 appearances from January
2023 to that date were more than any other member of Congress
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period. On November 12, 2024, Trump named Waltz as his national
security adviser.

* Frequent Fox guests
Several other people Trump plans to nominate for high-ranking
positions in his administration have spent the last several years
regularly appearing on the president-elect’s favored network. 

According to the Media Matters database, from August 2017 through
Election Day 2024:

* Stephen Miller, Trump’s pick
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deputy White House chief of staff for policy, made at least 374
weekday Fox appearances, including 174 since January 2023.
* Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Trump’s pick
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attorney general, made at least 347 weekday Fox appearances, including
26 since January 2023.
* Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Trump’s pick
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administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, made at least
307 weekday Fox appearances, including 92 since January 2023. 
* Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump’s pick
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secretary of state, made at least 263 weekday Fox appearances,
including 70 since January 2023.
* Former Trump Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe,
Trump’s pick
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CIA director, made at least 180 weekday Fox appearances, including 71
since January 2023.
* South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s reported pick
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secretary of homeland security, made at least 135 weekday Fox
appearances, including 46 since January 2023. 
* Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Trump’s pick
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ambassador to the United Nations, made at least 108 weekday Fox
appearances, including 32 since January 2023.

* Fox News
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* Matt Gaetz
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* Tulsi Gabbard
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* Pete Hegseth
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* Tom Homan
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* Mike Huckabee
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* Michael Waltz
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