Meet the Main Officials Driving Trump’s Agenda in the First 100 Days

These are the faces behind President Donald Trump’s unprecedented first 100 days.

Whether they’re a familiar image on TV screens or shy away from the spotlight, these 14 people have played a crucial role in authoring the deluge of executive orders and policies that have eroded norms, upended global markets, and laid the foundation for Trump’s second term.

They have championed many of the policies reorienting America today: tariffs, deportations, federal worker firings, and budget cuts. Others drive the Trump brand, shaping media and public perception of the administration as it rolls out an agenda at lightning speed.

“President Trump has assembled an exceptional team dedicated to Making America Great Again,” Assistant Press Secretary Liz Huston said. “Under his leadership, the Cabinet and White House officials are united in their mission to usher in a new Golden Age in America.”

Love it or hate it, the 14 people on this list are behind it all, in alphabetical order.

Scott Bessent

Call him the market whisperer. A former hedge fund manager who now finds himself as the Treasury secretary at the center of the US’s most complex trade negotiations in decades. Wall Street counts him as a moderating influence, and shares tend to go up when Bessent speaks. But Trump is a protectionist at heart, and it remains to be seen if Bessent’s relatively trade-friendly views will win out.

Pam Bondi

Bondi is among a handful of the president’s personal lawyers who now wield power. As US attorney general, she’s made it a point to go after “domestic terrorists” attacking Tesla dealerships. Following Trump’s lead, Bondi has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, who is charged with shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. She praised the DOJ’s landmark antitrust victory over Google, though it remains to be seen how she’ll handle Big Tech going forward.

Tom Homan

The official White House border czar, Homan is the man behind mass deportations. He has defended sending alleged gang members to El Salvador, and promised “another flight every day” of migrants being sent out of the country in an interview in March. Homan worked at ICE under former President Barack Obama and during Trump’s first term, and is listed as a contributor to conservative road map Project 2025.

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Mike Johnson

As Speaker of the House, Johnson owes his gavel to Trump. The first 100 days will look easy in comparison to what lies ahead. The easiest part will likely be trying to codify some of the White House’s DOGE office’s cuts into laws. Johnson will face a taller order in trying to squeeze Trump’s sweeping tax cuts and immigration plans through a narrowly controlled chamber. Thus far, Johnson has faced down internal dissent over Trump’s tariffs.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Many might know RFK Jr. as a vaccine skeptic or the face behind Make America Healthy Again, but he’s also floated big cuts in his role as health secretary. Proposed changes at the FDA, CDC, and NIH could influence programs like HIV/AIDs prevention and food facility inspections. RFK Jr. recently directed all food companies to remove synthetic dyes from their products by 2027, and he’s criticized other private sector industries, like weight-loss drugs.

Karoline Leavitt

As the youngest White House press secretary, Leavitt, 27, is often the public face of the second Trump administration’s policies. She’s known to spar with reporters during press briefings, particularly when it comes to thornier subjects like tariffs and immigration. The sometimes-combative dynamic was on display when talking about the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man: “Based on the sensationalism of many of the people in this room, you would think we deported a candidate for Father of the Year.”

Howard Lutnick

A Wall Street billionaire, Lutnick is Trump’s secretary of commerce and a big tariff advocate. He called for reciprocal tariffs during his confirmation hearings and has accused other nations of ripping America off. Unlike Bessent, his counterpart at Treasury, Lutnick is much more loquacious in his TV appearances, and not always to the White House’s benefit. He urged Americans not to worry about a recession even as Trump was conceding that tariffs might bring short-term pain.

Stephen Miller

As White House deputy chief of staff, Miller is again the point man of Trump’s immigration policy, though he’s considerably more powerful than during the president’s first term. Miller has helped lead Trump’s ramp-up of deportations and invocation of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Outside immigration, Miller has taken an active role in Trump’s clashes with Big Law.

Elon Musk

The de facto leader of the White House DOGE office has wielded unmatched power at the center of the administration’s efforts to slash the federal workforce. He has retained his brazen persona, speaking his mind more openly than many conventional political appointees. Musk has criticized Trump’s tariffs, dismissed a fellow White House advisor as “a moron,” and went so far as to suggest that Social Security is a “Ponzi scheme.” Faced with Tesla investor backlash, Musk has signaled that he will be stepping back from DOGE.

Peter Navarro

One of Trump’s top trade advisors, Navarro is the mastermind behind the tariffs that have scrambled markets and global trade. He was a fixture in Trump’s first term and has been a long-time hawk on trade with countries like China. He has returned with his protectionist, anti-trade policies after a stint in jail for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 committee. When announcing Navarro’s appointment, Trump said he “was treated horribly by the Deep State.” Navarro has publicly clashed with Musk over tariffs.

Marco Rubio

Senate Democrats hoped their former colleague would moderate Trump’s foreign policy as secretary of state. Rubio has instead presided over a dramatic reduction in the size and scope of the State Department, starting with the US Agency for International Development, which Musk described as having been fed “into the wood chipper.” Rubio has been vocal on immigration, defending actions like deporting migrants to El Salvador and canceling student visas for people he said were engaged in pro-Palestinian protests (some visas have been reinstated). As the nation’s top diplomat, Rubio has put pressure on Ukraine to accept a peace deal with Russia.

JD Vance

Trump’s second-in-command has wasted little time staking out his role. Vance has welcomed the fight and dismissed the concerns of fellow Republicans deemed insufficiently loyal to Trump. The vice president has served as the face of a Euro-skeptic White House. “Have you said thank you once?” Vance asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before an Oval Office visit went off the rails.

Russell Vought

Though Vought served in Trump’s first administration, he’s perhaps best known as one of the key authors of Project 2025. Trump has tried to distance himself from the playbook, but many of its priorities echo in his agenda so far: firing federal employees, mass deportations, and abolishing the Education Department, to name a few. Vought is the director of the Office of Management and Budget and helps carry out the DOGE agenda.

Susie Wiles

The first woman to serve as a president’s chief of staff, Wiles largely stays out of the spotlight but plays a big role wrangling the many dueling personalities in Trump’s orbit — Mac Stipanovich, a longtime Florida operative, told Politico that “she is an expert in unstable, dysfunctional, famous men.” Wiles has been a part of Trump’s inner circle for years. Level-headed and controlled, she keeps the administration’s machinery running.