Trump's aggressive cabinet opts for a tough stance towards China

The announcements should not come as a surprise. Donald Trump said he would do things differently this time. And yet they still evoke a double take.

I’m coming to Elon Musk in a moment.

But first the human Donald Trump has nominated as America’s next Secretary of Defense is a Fox News TV host.

The person proposed to take charge of the most powerful military in the world is Pete Hegseth, host of Fox & Friends Weekend.

The former National Guard major, who has served in Iraq, Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay (where he defended the treatment of detainees), is not the conventional choice, to say the least.

But that’s exactly why Trump wants him. He is there to shake things up and trigger the backlash that the establishment has already created.

“It’s definitely a joke,” was one phrase floating around social media and beyond.

But the president-elect’s press release made it clear.

“Pete spent his life as a fighter for the troops and for the country,” Trump said in the statement.

“Pete is tough, smart and a true advocate of America First. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice: our military will be great again, and America will never back down.”

A quick analysis of Mr. Hegseth’s appearances on Fox and other interviews he has done are revealing.

Apparently he doesn’t wash his hands often: “I don’t think I haven’t washed my hands in ten years…” he told his co-hosts a while ago.

“Germs aren’t real. I can’t see them and therefore they aren’t real.”

Was he joking? His co-hosts didn’t seem entirely sure.

But the 44-year-old does have a frank and sharp view of America’s military shortcomings.

He recently said on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast, “The Pentagon is running perfect war game simulations: We lose to China every time… They’re building an army… We’ve got our heads up our asses.”

He continued: “The way we acquire weapons systems always leaves us ten years behind in fighting the last war. While China is building an army specifically aimed at defeating the United States of America.”

This is what Trump would call anti-establishment, out-of-the-box thinking.

Yet it is actually consistent with what many in the establishment have long believed: that America is losing to China on many fronts.

Trump now places someone in a position of enormous power who expresses what others say in a calmer way.

This could be a theme of this new White House: saying what others don’t quite dare to say (such as on Ukraine/Russia: “it’s a stalemate”, on China: “they are winning”) and then trying to do something do about it.

But his lack of experience in actually running one of the largest government departments in the world and overseeing wars will worry many.

Then there is Mr. Musk. It should come as no surprise that he is in the White House. But he is only somewhat in government.

His new Department of Government Efficiency (which already has the acronym DOGE) is effectively outside the government structure.

Why? Because Mr. Musk’s companies have huge government contracts that keep him from actually serving in the White House.

In response to the announcement, he posted in “Muskian” form on his own site

“Anytime the public thinks we’re cutting something important or not cutting something wasteful, let us know!

“We will also have a leaderboard for the most outrageously stupid use of your tax dollars. This will be both extremely tragic and extremely entertaining.”

For many who believe that the US government is a bloated, cash-bleeding bureaucracy in dire need of reform, these (apparently) transparent plans may be welcome.

Many others will look further and wonder how this structure (outside of government) and leadership (the richest man in the world with huge conflicts of interest) could possibly be appropriate.

As an outside entity, it would not be approved by Congress. So who funds it, what are the potential conflicts of interest and who oversees it?

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One thing seems to be front and center on Trump’s mind with all the new nominees: China.

Marco Rubio (for Secretary of State), Pete Hegseth (for Secretary of Defense), John Ratcliffe (for CIA Chief), and Mike Waltz (for National Security Advisor) are all ultra-hardliners on China.

Trump is setting in motion a new ‘great game’ of superpowers. He is trying to establish a clear sense of superiority over China in the short term – to “make America great again.”

There is a lot at stake. Trump 2.0 could make America great again, but it could be a very bumpy ride.