Did Donald Trump’s acceptance speech preview who will surround him at the White House?
Here’s a look at who he praised and who stood with him through all the campaign trials:
RNC chairman Reince Priebus
In his acceptance speech, Trump called him “an unbelievable star.” Trump campaign staffers are touting the 44-year-old Wisconsin-ite as White House chief of staff. He speaks with Trump almost daily and traveled often with Trump on the campaign.
Priebus, who’s been chair of the Republican National Committee for six years, had tried hard to erase the party’s image of intolerance, launching an ambitious program to attract younger voters and minorities after Mitt Romney’s defeat in 2012. Trump, however, did little to help Priebus overcome that image.
He’s credited with helping Trump stay on message in the campaign’s final weeks and helped manage his campaign’s ground and financial operations.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., is believed to be a top choice for Secretary of State. Like Trump, Gingrich shocked the political world when he helped lead Republicans in the House of Representatives to power in 1994 after more than four decades as the minority party, powered by a “Contract with America” that he helped write.
He helped pass the first balanced budget since 1969 and worked with then-President Bill Clinton to revamp the nation’s welfare system. But the bombastic speaker was also blamed for the 1995 partial government shutdown. He led the effort to impeach Clinton after he allegedly lied to a grand jury.
Elected to the House in 1978, Gingrich resigned from Congress in 1999 after House Republicans suffered losses in mid-term elections. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2012.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani seems to have the inside track to run the Justice Department. During some of Trump’s toughest moments – like the release of the 2005 “Access Hollywood” video of Trump bragging about groping women – he would be the rare campaign surrogate to defend him on news shows.
A pugnacious former federal prosecutor, Giuliani, 72, became a Republican darling as mayor of heavily Democratic New York in 1994. His political star rose higher after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
His handling of the tragedy earned him the nickname nationally of “America’s Mayor.” But his star appeared to fade after his 2008 presidential campaign flamed out. The former two-term mayor raised eyebrows for over-the-top statements he made about the Clintons, President Barack Obama, and Democrats while touting Trump.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie
Two-term governor Christie, head of Trump’s transition team, could also receive consideration for attorney general.
But his prospects may be hampered after two of his former top gubernatorial aides were convicted of trying to extract revenge against a New Jersey Democratic politician by closing traffic lanes to deliberately cause a jam on New York/New Jersey’s busy George Washington Bridge.
Sen. Jeff Sessions
Sessions, a Republican senator from Alabama, is believed to be a top choice for Defense Secretary. The 69-year-old junior senator was one of Trump’s earliest backers on Capitol Hill. He has been a vocal critic of comprehensive immigration legislation.
He’s a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, but his roots are in law. He’s a former U.S. attorney and was nominated for a federal judgeship in 1985. But his nomination was derailed by Senate liberals, including the late Sen. Edward Kennedy who called Sessions “a throwback to a shameful era” on race issues. The nomination never made it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was elected to the Senate in 1996.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn
Flynn, 57, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, is another option for Defense Secretary. He has Trump’s ear on national security matters and was reportedly on his vice presidential shortlist.
He is highly-respected in military intelligence. Outspoken and brash, he was forced out from the DIA in 2014. He said he was fired because he clashed with the Obama administration on what to call U.S. enemies.
“I am certain that we cannot win this war unless we are free to call our enemies by their proper names: radical jihadis, failed tyrants, and so forth,” he told the New York Post.
Flynn would require a waiver from Congress as the law requires that a defense secretary must be seven years removed from active duty. He could also become Trump’s national security adviser.