Why Trump's new announcement about Kimberly Guilfoyle matters

11 hours ago

MSNBC

When it comes to making personnel decisions for the federal government, Donald Trump has demonstrated a preoccupation with choosing television personalities and people with direct ties to his immediate family.

Photo MSNBC

Once in a great while, however, the Republican president-elect is able to find someone who manages to check more than one box. NBC News reported:

President-elect Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would nominate former Fox News personality Kimberly Guilfoyle and his longtime billionaire friend Tom Barrack to be ambassadors to Greece and Turkey, respectively. ... In a separate post announcing his selection of her for ambassador to Greece, Trump referred to Guilfoyle, who announced in 2022 that she was engaged to his son Donald Trump Jr., as a yearslong ‘close friend and ally.’

I’m mindful of the latest reporting suggesting that Guilfoyle might no longer be engaged to the president-elect’s oldest son, but I neither know nor care about their personal lives.

What I do care about is the frequency with which Trump chooses people of dubious qualifications for prominent governmental posts based on their closeness to members of his family. The growing list now includes:

Charles Kushner, Ivanka Trump’s father-in-law, whom the president-elect intends to nominate as the next U.S. ambassador to France.Massad Boulos, Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law, whom the president-elect tapped to serve as a senior White House adviser on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.Adam Boehler, Jared Kushner’s college roommate, whom the president-elect tapped to serve as the special U.S. envoy for hostage affairs.

And we can now add Guilfoyle, who was apparently close to Donald Trump Jr., to the mix.

The former Fox News personality, who does not appear to have any background in diplomacy, will require Senate confirmation. Watch this space.

Steve Benen

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."