Trump Advisors Think Kevin McCarthy Is a Leading Contender to Be Trump’s Chief of Staff: Axios

AP Photo/Alex Brandon; AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta

While former President Donald Trump pivots his campaign to attack a new Democratic opponent, his advisors are putting together a potential White House staff and cabinet behind the scenes.

Axios’s Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei spoke to several “Republican sources” and got a glimpse of the kind of administration Trump could have if he is reelected this fall: “The top of a second Trump administration would be mainly white, male, populist and loyal, based on preliminary lists of likely Cabinet members and top staff, the sources said.”

In the report published on Tuesday, there are some Republican figures lobbying for roles in the next Trump administration, including those vice presidential hopefuls who didn’t make the cut: “Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum , are in the running for secretary of state, Trump sources tell us.”

And for the role of White House chief of staff, which comes with a slight caveat:

Susie Wiles , the campaign’s co-manager, wants White House chief of staff — and likely would get the job if she pushes for it.

Trump wants a chief of staff who knows Washington and congressional landmines. So advisers see former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a top Wiles alternative.

This new gig could prove as impossible, and short-lived, as being speaker. Just ask Reince Priebus or John Kelly or Mick Mulvaney or Mark Meadows — Trump’s first-term chiefs.

Some Republicans, according to the report, feel that this measuring of the curtains before officially moving in was a sign that the Trump camp was perhaps a bit “over-confident.” On the other hand: “Trump insiders realize that the more prepared they are for a transition, the more power can stay concentrated with Trump loyalists — and the less would go to outsiders.”