It is clear that President-elect Donald Trump values loyalty, perhaps above all else.

How else can we explain some of his puzzling Cabinet nominations?

It seems that Trump is bent on avoiding what happened in his first term, when the political newcomer made some choices that wound up coming back to haunt him. Justifiably so, many would argue. Trump’s initial Cabinet underwent a series of changes early and throughout his first term and some of those figures — including John Kelly, Jim Mattis and Rex Tillerson — criticized him after leaving their posts.

Kelly served as Trump’s secretary of Homeland Security in 2017 and then as White House chief of staff from 2017 to 2019. Mattis was Trump’s first secretary of Defense from 2017 to 2019 and Tillerson was secretary of State from 2017 to 2018.

All three men clashed with Trump during their White House tenures and either resigned (Kelly and Mattis) or were fired (Tillerson). Kelly later urged Trump be removed from office under the 25th Amendment. Mattis stayed quiet after his tenure, but later spoke out against Trump after the treatment of protesters near the White House on June 1, 2020, so Trump could have a photo op at a nearby church. Tillerson had reportedly called Trump “a (bleeping) moron” before his firing.

Trump’s Cabinet choices for his upcoming second term seem designed to ensure that relationships do not quickly — or even eventually — sour. But that approach has led to some interesting choices and sharp criticism.

One of his nominees, former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, withdrew from consideration Thursday as Trump’s attorney general after fallout from a federal sex trafficking investigation threatened his Senate confirmation chances. No charges were filed against Gaetz after the probe concluded, but the allegations have persisted for years.

Pete Hegseth, a former Fox News Channel host and contributor, has also come under fire after sexual assault allegations against him resurfaced. Hegseth, who is Trump’s nominee for secretary of Defense, paid a confidential settlement in 2023 to a woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017.

It doesn’t seem that the Trump transition team did much vetting of Gaetz and Hegseth, or didn’t care what they learned if they did.

Those two nominations have garnered much of the attention as Trump began to formulate a new Cabinet. But others, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, have been criticized. Kennedy has long railed against what he has said are side effects of vaccines, including autism.

Other nominees, including Tulsi Gabbard (director of National Intelligence), Kristi Noem (Homeland Security secretary) and Linda McMahon (secretary of Education) might also face intense scrutiny as they seek Senate approval.

Democrats turned on Gabbard after she left the party and became an independent. Noem was reportedly a potential vice presidential choice before she wrote about shooting a misbehaving puppy in an autobiography. McMahon, who had been Trump’s first director of the Small Business Administration from 2017 to 2019, has twice run for the U.S. Senate in Connecticut, but lost to Democrats Richard Blumenthal in 2010 and to Chris Murphy in 2012. But she might be best known as the wife of professional wrestling mogul Vince McMahon. They founded World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., and Linda McMahon is a retired WWE performer.

Trump’s appointment of X and Tesla owner Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to lead the fledgling Department of Government Efficiency has also been criticized.

Many of Trump’s selections have been criticized for a lack of credentials for the posts for which they’ve been nominated. But the one credential all of them seem to share is demonstrated loyalty to their would-be new boss.

That, more than anything else, appears to be the most important criterion in the new Trump administration.

We can only speculate how that might work out for the American people.

editorial@vindy.com