PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) 鈥� President-elect made his selection for energy secretary on Saturday, even as a key ally, billionaire , 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, as energy secretary. Wright is a vocal advocate of oil and gas development, including fracking, a key pillar of Trump鈥檚 quest to achieve U.S. 鈥渆nergy dominance鈥� in the global market.
The announcement of that selection came hours after Musk mused about the president-elect's yet-to-be-made treasury secretary choice. 鈥淲ould 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 , posted Saturday on the X social media platform he owns.
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鈥檚 transition team ahead of Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, 2025, over hedge fund manager Scott Bessent.
Musk said in his post that 鈥淏essent is a business-as-usual choice, whereas @howardlutnick will actually enact change."
鈥淏usiness-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. 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, , also endorsed Lutnick, posting on his own X account, 鈥淏itcoin is the currency of freedom, a hedge against inflation for middle class Americans.鈥�
鈥淏itcoin will have no stronger advocate than Howard Lutnik,鈥� he wrote, misspelling Lutnick's last name.
Wright, meanwhile, has been one of the industry鈥檚 loudest voices against efforts to fight climate change and could give fossil fuels a boost 鈥� including quick action to end a year-long pause on natural gas export approvals by the Biden administration. Wright has criticized what he calls a 鈥渢op-down鈥� approach on climate by liberal and left-wing groups and said the climate movement around the world is 鈥渃ollapsing under its own weight.鈥�
His selection came after Trump had already announced many picks in recent days, including his choice for Secretary of State, Florida Sen. , and attorney general, former Florida Rep .
Treasury is the most important slot he has left to fill, but the president-elect also has yet to announce choices for other roles, including the heads of the Education and Labor Departments.
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 Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson was at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, this weekend, and meeting with the president-elect. Trump was also set to head to Saturday night's fight between Stipe Miocic and at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Except for a day trip this week to meet for nearly two hours with President Joe Biden, and separately address House Republicans, Trump has been spending his time since his victory at Mar-a-Lago, which has and conservative events throughout the week,
A return to Madison Square Garden means where a comedian caused an uproar at a Trump rally last month by likening Puerto Rico to a 鈥渇loating island of garbage.鈥� Yet Trump continues to relish visits to New York, where he lived for decades.
Trump also 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, New Jersey, and Trump has frequently attended UFC matches since 鈥� including during his 2024 campaign. Trump has turned up at fights recently with famous , including White, musician Kid Rock and former Fox News Channel host Tucker Carlson.
In 2018, during Trump's first term, he and White starred in a UFC video where the then-president was called the 鈥淐ombatant In Chief.鈥�
As Trump has strengthened his grip on the national Republican Party over the last near-decade, White鈥檚 personal political profile has grown exponentially. White spoke at the 2016 and 2020 Republican conventions, and when the this past July. He also addressed the crowd at Trump鈥檚 Florida victory party in the wee hours of the morning after Election Day.
鈥淭his is what happens when the machine comes after you,鈥� White said then. 鈥淲hat you鈥檝e seen over the last several years, this is what it looks like: couldn鈥檛 stop him. He keeps going forward. He doesn鈥檛 quit.鈥�
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Will Weissert, The Associated Press
