U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has chosen retired Marine General John Kelly to lead the Department of Homeland Security, a massive and troubled agency tasked with combating terrorism and executing Trump’s promise to crack down on illegal immigration, according to transition team officials.
Officials said Kelly was nominated because of his expertise regarding the southwest border the United States shares with Mexico and his stated desire to address illegal drugs, terrorism and other threats he believes originate in Central and South America.
In 2010, Kelly’s son, Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in a land mine explosion in Afghanistan, making the general the highest-ranking U.S. military officer to lose a child in the wars in Afghanistan or Iraq.
Kelly, who is expected to win Senate confirmation, is the latest in a string of former military figures to be nominated for positions in the incoming Trump administration.
Trump has also nominated retired Lt. General Michael Flynn as national security adviser and retired Marine General James Mattis as defense secretary. Retired Army General and former Central Intelligence Agency chief David Petraeus is said to be among those under consideration for secretary of state.
Trump said earlier Tuesday that former critic and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is still being considered for secretary of state, reinforcing reports that Romney remains the leading contender for the position.
“I’ve spoken to him a lot. I think we’ve come a long way,” Trump said of Romney in a telephone interview on NBC’s Today show.
Trump said he will likely announce his choice for the nation’s top diplomatic post next week.
Trump appeared last week to have narrowed his list to four names: Romney, Petraeus, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. Trump has also interviewed former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and is talking to several other people as well, including retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis and former U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman.
The president-elect met Tuesday with the CEO of ExxonMobil Corporation, Rex Tillerson, who has also been mentioned as a candidate for secretary of state. The 64-year-old Texas oilman has no government experience, but has close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.
Also Tuesday, Trump selected Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as the next U.S. ambassador to China, a country Trump rattled recently with tough trade talk and a telephone call with Tsai Ing-wen, the president of Taiwan, a rival of China. Branstad has a relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping that goes back more than 30 years.
Trump returned Tuesday to his vision of a non-interventionist foreign policy for the United States, saying as he did during his campaign, that he does not want to have American forces fighting “in areas that we shouldn’t be fighting in.”
Speaking during a “thank you” rally for his supporters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Trump said instead his focus will be on defeating terrorists, including the Islamic State group.
“We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn’t be involved with,” Trump said.
He said the United States must end what he called a “destructive cycle of intervention and chaos.”
Trump pledged to build up the military, but said the purpose would be to project strength, not aggression.
After questioning frequently during his campaign whether NATO and other allies were pulling their weight, Trump said Tuesday he wants to strengthen “old friendships” and seek new ones.
