General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhich Trump cabinet members are nutcase true believers and which ones are just grifters with no morals?
Not just cabinet members but also people he turns to like Laura Loomer and Stephen Miller. I may have missed a couple.
Stephen Miller is one of the clearest cases of a True Believer in Trumps inner circle
Laura Loomer - Hardliner True Believer
Tom Homan - True Believer
Pete Hegseth - True Believer
Pam Bondi - True Believer Strong Trump defender historically; has shown consistent loyalty.
Kristi Noem - True Believer Strong alignment on hardline immigration, culture issues; often in MAGAs cultural wars.
John Ratcliffe - True Believer Has defended Trump during past controversies; public alignment strong.
Russell Vought -True Believer Ideological; part of effort to reshape federal bureaucracy to Trumps priorities.
Susie Wiles - Strikes me as a pragmatic loyalist
Brooke Rollins -Mixed Strong conservative credentials and Trump policy work, but more think-tank & policy background than MAGA firebrand.
Linda McMahon - Mixed Business, donor, political connections; loyalty shown but less street level MAGA.
Sean Duffy - Mixed Has MAGA ties but also has shown less intensity than the core group.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. - Mixed / Opportunist Some alignment on distrust of establishment, but also outsider credentials that may conflict with full
MAGA alignment. He's also just had too much brain damage and drug addiction so maybe just screwed up in the head.
Howard Lutnick - Opportunist Big‐business operator; seems more about policy, management, prestige than rallying MAGA base.
Lori Chavez-DeRemer - Opportunist / Mixed More mainstream Republican profile; less of a MAGA cultural warrior.
Scott Turner - Opportunist Less public ideological combustion; more positional.
Marco Rubio -Opportunist Has had friction; seems more conventional foreign policy, less ideological full-spectrum MAGA.
Doug Burgum - Pragmatic supporter, not MAGA at heart
Kelly Loeffler - Don't know much about her.
Lee Zeldin - Don't know anything about him
Jamieson Greer - Don't know anything about him.

lame54
(38,468 posts)Fulfilling a life long dream
One day he may be our unelected leader
Quixote1818
(31,085 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(58,838 posts)Is the real question: Are any of them not both?
H2O Man
(77,979 posts)sold his sould when he said he thinks the felon should get the nobel peace prize. He might as well add a grammy, NBA and NFL titles, and the heavyweight championship of the world. I can say for certain that in May of 2024, Robert said he knew the felon is a sociopath.
Jack Valentino
(3,382 posts)Wounded Bear
(63,050 posts)Quixote1818
(31,085 posts)Jack Valentino
(3,382 posts)I suppose only some of them are actively enriching themselves, but that's just a guess.
Bernardo de La Paz
(58,838 posts)Lutnick - True Believer AND Opportunist biz operator
Linda McMahon is so stupid she's proud of being given the worst job reputationally by definition in the whole cabinet: winding down Dept Education and she has proven she is not even capable of running a sham, with her raving about how great AOne (AI) is.
Missing Karoline Leavitt (WH Press) - True Believer
Missing from your list is Scott Bessent. I think he is the smartest one of the whole regime, which can only mean he is an Opportunist because smart people are more likely to have morals than not. But my guess is he thinks somewhat Half True Believer and happy to play a role in the con, which I think he might think goes like this: "In 20 years time America will be great but there will be severe pain endured by the general public all for a good cause. By then I will be fabulously wealthy because ... opportunities ... and I won't care anyway." I think he is in on a slice of the con (payoff by Big Biz after office) pulling the wool over American eyes.
maxrandb
(16,864 posts)usonian
(20,872 posts)As soon as they outlive their usefulness (which ain't much, being sock puppets) THEY GONE.
Displacing gophers at the golf links.
MIller's the Himmler
Well, what have we here?
Who are these people? Changelings?
keep_left
(3,075 posts)...and obsession with conservative bête noires (especially Cuba) to ever be fully trusted by the MAGA movement. OTOH, the MAGA chuds seem to be just as hateful toward Cuba as any neocons ever were. MAGA always was about marketing; it never differed that greatly from the simpleminded, utopian world-building that preoccupied neocon "thought". For all the nationalism proclaimed by the MAGA movement, it is really only seen in their economic program--and even there, only occasionally. When it comes to foreign policy, Trump is just as eager as any neocon to send our armed forces on one or another ill-advised misadventure (e.g. Venezuela, Iran, threatening Mexico).