United States President-elect Donald Trump on Friday announced key Cabinet picks with the influential post of National Security Adviser going to his trusted military adviser Lt Gen Michael Flynn while Congressman Mike Pompeo was selected to head the powerful Central Intelligence Agency.
Trump also announced that he intends to nominate Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as Attorney General.
“It is an honour to nominate US Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general of the United States,” Trump said.
Sessions has a distinguished legal career and has served as both the US Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama and Alabama Attorney General prior to his service in the US Senate.
He has been one of President-elect Trump’s trusted advisors on the campaign and will now continue his service as nation’s chief law enforcement officer, Trump’s transition team said.
“Jeff has been a highly respected member of the US Senate for 20 years. He is a world-class legal mind and considered a truly great Attorney General and US Attorney in the state of Alabama. Jeff is greatly admired by legal scholars and virtually everyone who knows him,” Trump said.
“I am humbled to have been asked by President-elect Trump to serve as Attorney General of the United States,” Sessions said.
“My previous 15 years working in the Department of Justice were extraordinarily fulfilling. I love the department, its people and its mission. I can think of no greater honour than to lead them. With the support of my Senate colleagues, I will give all my strength to advance the department’s highest ideals,” Sessions said.
“I enthusiastically embrace President-elect Trump’s vision for ‘one America’, and his commitment to equal justice under law. I look forward to fulfilling my duties with an unwavering dedication to fairness and impartiality,” he said.
Flynn, a retired United States Army Lieutenant General and former director of the Defence Intelligence Agency, assumes the position of National Security Advisor with a decorated career of more than 35 years in service.
He served as Trump’s top military advisor during the campaign and will now continue to provide expert advice and support to the US President-elect as his National Security Advisor, a statement said.
“I am pleased that Lieutenant General Michael Flynn will be by my side as we work to defeat radical Islamic terrorism, navigate geopolitical challenges and keep Americans safe at home and abroad,” Trump said.
“General Flynn is one of the country’s foremost experts on military and intelligence matters and he will be an invaluable asset to me and my administration,” he said.
Flynn said, “I am deeply humbled and honoured to accept the position as National Security Advisor to serve both our country and our nation’s next President, Donald J Trump.”
Pompeo, representing Kansas’ Fourth Congressional District, is a former active duty cavalry officer in the US Army and graduated first in his class from the US Military Academy at West Point.
He currently serves on the House Intelligence Committee, which oversees America’s intelligence-gathering efforts.
“I am proud to nominate Congressman Mike Pompeo as director of the Central Intelligence Agency,” Trump said.
“He has served our country with honour and spent his life fighting for the security of our citizens. Mike graduated number one in his class at West Point and is a graduate of HarvardLawSchool where he served as an editor of the Harvard Law Review. He will be a brilliant and unrelenting leader for our intelligence community to ensure the safety of Americans and our allies,” Trump said.
Pompeo said, “I am honoured to have been given this opportunity to serve and to work alongside President-elect Donald J Trump to keep America safe. I also look forward to working with America’s intelligence warriors, who do so much to protect Americans each and every day.”
Meanwhile, vice president-elect Mike Pence told reporters that Trump is a “man of action” and they have got a great number of men and women with great qualifications to look forward to serving in the new administration.
“Our agency teams arrived in WashingtonDC this morning and I am very confident it will be a smooth transition that will serve to lead this country forward and make America Great Again,” Pence said in response to a question.
Image: US Senator Jeff Sessions with Donald Trump.Photograph: Marvin Gentry/Reuters
