A C-list conservative commentator who spent two decades as a Fox contributor, Crowley most notably pushed several bigoted conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama’s heritage, including promoting a documentary about his purported “real father.” Trump’s plan to name her to a top National Security Council post was scuttled by revelations that she had plagiarized parts of her 2012 book and Ph.D. thesis, but she was appointed to the position of Treasury Department assistant secretary for public affairs in July 2019. After the conclusion of the Trump presidency she returned to punditry, claiming that the “deep state” has been trying to destroy Trump through COVID-19 (which was “released on purpose”) and assassination attempts. She also contributed to Project 2025 and served as a Trump surrogate and J.D. Vance debate adviser during the 2024 campaign. Trump announced Crowley as his pick for chief of protocol at the State Department on December 4, 2024; the position has a rank equivalent to U.S. ambassador and assistant secretary of state.

Duffy stepped down from his fifth term as a Republican congressman from Wisconsin to become a CNN political contributor in 2019, joined Fox as a contributor in 2020, and became a co-host of Fox Business’ The Bottom Line in 2023. He met his spouse, Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Rachel Campos-Duffy, when they were both contestants on the MTV reality show The Real World. Trump announced Duffy was his pick for secretary of transportation on November 18, 2024.

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

A bombastic, self-proclaimed national security “expert” with dubious credentials, a proclivity for anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, and ties to foreign extremist groups, Gorka made frequent appearances on Fox News during the 2016 presidential campaign and was briefly hired by the network before decamping for the Trump White House, where he served as deputy assistant to the president. His job was ill-defined, and he apparently did little other than go on television to support the president before he was canned in August 2017. He then returned to Fox as a full-fledged contributor — albeit one who was reportedly banned from appearing on the network’s “hard news” programming. In March 2019, he left Fox for Sinclair Broadcast Group; in 2021, he became a Newsmax host. Trump announced Gorka’s role in his second White House on November 22, 2024. 

Guilfoyle, an undistinguished pro-Trump pundit and founding co-host of the Fox panel show The Five, rallied network staffers to support then-Fox CEO Roger Ailes when longtime host Gretchen Carlson sued him for sexual harassment. Guilfoyle’s 2018 departure from the network was reportedly linked to “a human resources investigation into allegations of inappropriate behavior including sexual misconduct”; Fox reportedly paid more than $4 million to Guilfoyle’s assistant, who alleged “she was frequently required to work at Guilfoyle’s New York apartment while the Fox host displayed herself naked, and was shown photographs of the genitalia of men with whom Guilfoyle had had sexual relations” (Guilfoyle has denied engaging in “any workplace misconduct”). After leaving Fox, Guilfoyle became a well-compensated Trump campaign aide, became engaged to Donald Trump Jr., and played a key role in the January 6 insurrection. Donald Trump, who reportedly considered Guilfoyle for White House press secretary during his first term, announced on December 10, 2024, that he would nominate her as U.S. ambassador to Greece

After serving in the Army National Guard and as executive director of a right-wing veteran’s organization, Hegseth joined Fox 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 of war crimes. On November 12, 2024, Trump announced that 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 military and civilian employees that spends hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

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

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

Kellogg, a retired three-star general in the U.S. Army who served as a top defense aide to Trump and Vice President Mike Pence during Trump’s first presidency, subsequently joined Fox as a contributor. Trump named him as his special envoy for Ukraine and Russia on November 27, 2024.

Makary, a surgeon, professor, and health policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University, joined Fox as a contributor near the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In that role, he criticized public health officials for warning of new strains of the virus in the months leading up to the emergence of the deadly delta variant and criticized vaccine mandates, particularly for children, citing the vaccine’s purported health risks. Trump announced Makary as his pick to lead the FDA on November 22, 2024. 

Nesheiwat, the medical director of a chain of New York urgent care centers, joined Fox as a medical contributor near the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. In that role, she promoted the use of supplemental zinc as a COVID-19 treatment and repeatedly highlighted the purported health risks of vaccination. Trump announced her as his pick for surgeon general on November 22, 2024. 

Slater, an attorney who specializes in technology issues, worked for the Federal Trade Commission and a trade association for internet companies before joining the White House in February 2018 as special assistant to the president for technology, telecommunications and cybersecurity. In April 2019, she left the administration to lead the federal policy team of Fox Corp., Fox News’ parent company. After a stint as an economic policy adviser in Vance’s Senate office, Trump announced her as his pick to run the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division on December 4, 2024. 

An Army veteran and Republican member of Congress from Florida who served as an adviser in the Pentagon and White House, Waltz became a paid Fox contributor in 2017, the year before he was first elected to the U.S. House. He still touts 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 over that period. On November 12, 2024, Trump named Waltz as his national security adviser.

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 for 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 initial pick for attorney general, made at least 347 weekday Fox appearances, including 26 since January 2023. He subsequently withdrew from consideration.
• Former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), Trump’s pick for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, made at least 307 weekday Fox appearances, including 92 since January 2023. 
• Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Trump’s second pick for attorney general, made at least 276 weekday Fox appearances, including 64 since January 2023.
• Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Trump’s pick for 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 for CIA director, made at least 180 weekday Fox appearances, including 71 since January 2023.
• South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, Trump’s reported pick for secretary of homeland security, made at least 135 weekday Fox appearances, including 46 since January 2023. 
• Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Trump’s pick for ambassador to the United Nations, made at least 108 weekday Fox appearances, including 32 since January 2023.