Trump may get his way on appointments

President-elect Donald Trumpannounced Tuesday that he will appoint his son Don Jr.’s ex, Kimberly Guilfoyle, as ambassador to Greece — the same day the New York Post reported that the younger Trump has taken up with a glamorous Palm Beach socialite.

Guilfoyle, a former Fox News broadcaster, was the Trump campaign's finance chair during his 2020 run and has remained a strong supporter. She started dating Don Jr. in 2018 and the two became engaged in 2020.

Trump earlier announced appointments for two other relatives — the fathers-in-law of his two daughters.

Trump spokesman Steven Cheungsaid suggestions that Guilfoyle’s appointment was related to her relationship with Don Jr. were “very sexist.”

Before she can take up her post in Athens, Guilfoyle must be confirmed by the Senate. Her appointment is unlikely to be as difficult as more high-profile picks, such as anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services, maverick former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as the Director of National Intelligence, outspoken lawyer Kash Patel as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and former Fox News broadcaster Pete Hegseth as Defense Secretary.

All of those controversial nominees were expected to run into difficulties winning the approval of senators skeptical of their qualifications, but pressure from Trump may bend senators to his will, as seems to have happened in the case of Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, who was persuaded to back Hegseth after first expressing reluctance.

“At this point, it looks like all will be confirmed,” says Eurasia Group’s US Managing Director Jon Lieber, “with the National security roles being the most on the rocks, and Hegseth most of all because of the allegations of mistreatment of women.”