Kari Lake to join Trump in DC? Arizonans could join a new administration

On By Pranco

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Donald Trump has only been elected president for three days, but the battle for his second administration is already in full swing.

Arizona Republicans could play a notable role when the former president returns to the White House in January, just as they did during Trump’s first term. Arizonans advised the former and future president on immigration and held a top role at NASA when he was president.

And as Trump begins to put together his new administration, some speculate that Arizonans are once again eyeing key roles that align with some of the state’s most prominent issues, such as immigration.

“President-elect Trump will soon begin making decisions on who will serve in his second administration. Those decisions will be announced as they are made,” Trump-Vance Transition spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a written statement. She did not comment on the names mentioned in this story.

Here’s a list of who could be heading to Washington, and which prominent Trumpworld figures may remain in the Grand Canyon State.

Jeff DeWit

Trump has previously leaned on former Arizona Republican Party Chairman Jeff DeWit, naming him chief operating officer of his 2016 and 2020 campaigns and appointing him chief financial officer of NASA.

DeWit began the 2024 campaign cycle at the helm of the state GOP with a mandate from Trump. However, he resigned in January after Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake released a secret recording of DeWit telling her that “powerful people” did not want her to run for the Senate.

DeWit previously served as Arizona’s treasurer.

Art del Cuerto

Art Del Cuerto, a member of the National Border Patrol Council’s board of directors, said Friday that he has already received calls from politicians close to Trump about a possible administrative role.

“I ended up being questioned about it,” Del Cuerto said in a telephone interview. “If someone were to call me and say, Hey, are you interested in such and such a position? I should see what position it is.”

A possible job could be an advisory position attached to the Department of Homeland Security, which plays a central role in the country’s immigration policy, he said. But for now, Del Cuerto has not heard directly from Trump.

“Unless the boss himself makes contact,” Del Cuerto said. “Nothing was actually said.”

Del Cuerto said his main focus is on being happy that Trump is returning to the White House. The president-elect who swept the swing states is on track to win the popular vote after his 2020 defeat.

“My interest, as wacky and corny as it sounds,” Del Cuerto added. “My only interest was and remains primarily the future of our country and the future of our state.”

Brandon Judd

When Trump wanted to get his campaign message across on immigration this summer, he brought in former National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd.

The border union boss and longtime Trump ally knows Arizona well. He spent the early part of his career as a Border Patrol agent in the border city of Naco and served as president of the largest local Border Patrol in Tucson.

Judd was an outspoken supporter of stricter measures at the border during Trump’s first term in the White House, appearing with Trump at roundtables and briefings. He reprized that role during Trump’s 2024 campaign, appearing on a press call with Trump to take down Vice President Kamala Harris.

Judd has also crossed party lines, accompanying Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., before President Joe Biden’s final State of the Union address earlier this year.

Mark Lamb

Former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb became nationally known when he refused to enforce a stay-at-home order during the COVID-19 pandemic because he believed it was unconstitutional. Lamb has expressed support for the idea that sheriffs should protect citizens from government overreach and that they have the highest legal authority in the US.

Lamb has worked to raise his profile within the Republican Party, making regular appearances on right-wing television news channels and maintaining a presence in MAGA circles. He has spoken at Trump’s rallies and the president-elect has praised him as “popular.”

Mark Dannels

When Trump and Vance visited the Arizona-Mexico border in August, Mark Dannels stood right next to them. Dannels is the GOP sheriff in Cochise County, home to one of the busiest sectors of the southern border. Dannels is also chairman of the National Sheriffs Association Border Security.

Trump has previously approached Dannels for an advisory role. During the Trump administration, he served on the advisory board of the Department of Homeland Security. Dannels was dismissed from the council, along with more than twenty other members, by the Biden administration in 2021.

Charlie Kirk

Charlie Kirk, head of the conservative activist group Turning Point USA, has strong ties in the Trump world, but it is unclear whether he would work for the new administration.

Kirk served on the 1776 Commission, a Trump-era advisory committee focused on restoring “patriotic education,” though he is better known as a media personality and commentator.

Leading turning point has been lucrative for 31-year-old Kirk. His salary is in the six figures and he owns five properties, three of which are worth well over a million dollars, according to the Associated Press. reported last year. Taking a government job would almost certainly mean a major pay cut.

Blake Masters

Trump’s victory could be a political windfall for Blake Masters, a venture capitalist who unsuccessfully represented Arizona in Congress earlier this year.

Masters is close personal friends with newly elected Vice President JD Vance: both are protectors of technology billionaire Peter Thiel.

Thiel tapped Masters to serve on Trump’s transition team after his 2016 victory. Masters has cultivated relationships within Trump’s inner circle in the intervening years.

Trump allies in Congress

Trump’s allies in Congress will gain new powers during a second term.

Arizona’s delegation includes Reps. Paul Gosar, Andy Biggs, Eli Crane and newly elected Abe Hamadeh.

They have all defended Trump’s efforts to undermine the 2020 election, and have been outspoken supporters of Trump-backed immigration policies. In 2023, Biggs co-sponsored HR 2, a tough immigration bill that is likely to resurface in a Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Don Tapia

Trump appointed major GOP donor Don Tapia as the U.S. ambassador to Jamaica during his first term. He could tap Tapia for a role in his second government.

The Paradise Valley resident previously owned Essco Wholesale Electric Inc., which grew into the state’s largest Latino company.

Tapia has donated more than $1 million to Republican causes, including $100,000 to Trump’s presidential inaugural committee in 2016 and $300,000 to the Trump Victory PAC during the 2020 election cycle, FEC records show. More recently, however, the Arizona millionaire gave thousands of dollars to Trump challenger Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina’s Republican Party.

Kari Lake

Lake has tied her political brand so closely to the president-elect that she has been called “Trump on her heels,” but it is not clear if there is a place for her in the incoming Trump administration.

Lake lost her bid for statewide governor in 2022 and began a contentious legal battle to challenge the results. That mission ended Wednesday when the Arizona Supreme Court declined to hear her appeal claiming she was Arizona’s rightful governor.

The results for Lake’s Senate race against Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., were still trickling in Friday and no winner had been declared. Regardless of the outcome, Lake was on pace to perform significantly worse than Trump among voters across the state.

Lake was a fixture during the major campaigns early this year, promoting Trump at his victory parties in Iowa and New Hampshire. Trump promoted her Senate bid but sometimes teased her by calling her “Border Kari” during a rally in Tucson.