Linda McMahon, the now-secretary of education, and Brooke Rollins, the now-secretary of agriculture, unsuccessfully pitched themselves to serve as President Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff – in part failing because campaign staffers intercepted their efforts with an “orchestrated” call from the vice president, a new book alleges.
During the presidential transition process, McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive, and Rollins, who had set up a conservative think tank, rushed to Mar-a-Lago, where Trump and his team of trusted advisers were helping select members of the new administration, vying for the coveted chief of staff role, according to Jonathan Karl’s new book, Retribution, an excerpt of which was published in Vanity Fair Thursday.
When a campaign staffer who worked closely with Susie Wiles, the so-called “ice maiden” who successfully led Trump’s 2016 and 2024 campaigns, got wind of McMahon and Rollins' plans, they reportedly intervened.
Karl, a longtime political journalist who has written three books on Trump, says the staffers “orchestrated a phone call with Vice President-elect JD Vance to delay the two aspiring chiefs of staff on their way to Trump’s office.”
The plan ultimately worked; by the time McMahon and Rollins saw Trump, he had already offered the role to Wiles.
In a statement, White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said, “Susie was the only choice for Chief of Staff, and she was the perfect choice. President Trump picked someone who has been loyal from Day One and there is nobody more talented and respected than Susie. There’s a reason why President Trump calls her the ‘Most Powerful Woman in the World’—because she is.”
McMahon would later become Trump’s secretary of education, overseeing plans to essentially get rid of the Department of Education by stripping it of funding and firing most staffers.
Rollins would become the secretary of agriculture, vowing to reduce egg prices as they skyrocketed due to avian flu, and to help farmers struggling to make ends meet.
But the road for McMahon, Rollins and other Trump cabinet members to get their respective positions was a winding one, according to Karl’s book.
Trump, focused on winning the 2024 election, reportedly did not want to make transition plans before officially winning the election and left vetting up to trusted advisers such as billionaire Howard Lutnick, the now secretary of commerce.
After winning, Trump and his team headed to Mar-a-Lago, where they reportedly turned the Tea Room into an office space. Lutnick prepared presentations of potential candidates for cabinet positions that featured headshots, recent news clips of the individuals and five bullet points about them, according to Karl.
The book alleges that a team of lawyers helped vet potential candidates, but made some serious missteps when they failed to pick up on past sexual assault allegations against then-Defense Secretary nominee Pete Hegseth. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Unlike during Trump’s first administration, the president was more precise with the people he chose to elevate to high-level positions in his second administration.
Candidates underwent loyalty tests, according to reports, in which they were asked about their voting history, whether they agreed the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and their feelings about the January 6 attack on the Capitol. What some of the cabinet members lacked in experience for their respective roles, they apparently made up for in devotion to Trump and his agenda.
