President Trump is assembling an administration stocked with prominent gay and lesbian Americans — defying hysterical Democratic rhetoric.
“When it comes to whether you’re gay or straight, black or white and all those markers others calculate — President Trump is decision blind. He bases his decision on the kind of job he knows you will do, period,” said Bill White, a top Trump fundraiser — who was tapped to serve as the US ambassador to Belgium.
Among the picks:
- Scott Bessent, 62, treasury secretary. If confirmed, the hedge fund manager would be the highest-ranking openly gay official in US history.
- Ric Grenell, 58, presidential envoy for special missions. He was Trump’s director of national intelligence during his first term.
- Tammy Bruce, 62, the new State Department spokesperson was a Fox News contributor.
- Jacob Helberg, 35, undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy, and the environment.
- Bill White, 57, ambassador to Belgium.
- Art Fisher, 49, ambassador to Austria.
And at least 10 other prominent LGBT Americans are slated for major administration posts, one Trump insider said.
“The velvet mafia this time around will be extensive,” he said.
Gay and lesbian officials in Trump’s first term included Randy Berry, his ambassador to Nepal, and James Abbott, who Trump tapped to serve on the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
“I sit here knowing that President Trump chose me because he believes I am the best candidate, not because of my sexual preference,” Bessent said during his confirmation hearing on Thursday. “I think it is a tribute to President Trump that he looks at people as people.”
A top gay New York City Democrat said he is pleased with the picks.
“It’s good and I hope that they will have a little influence when it comes to issues that may come up having to do with equal rights and marriage and respecting trans people’s rights,” said the Dem.
Trump’s appointments fly in face of dire warnings from Democratic LGBT activists during the 2024 race.
In January, the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted an anonymous gay man who said he was buying guns for fear of being “put in concentration camps.”
The “freedom to love who you love openly and with pride” is at stake, warned Vice President Harris.
“As horrific as the first Trump presidency was for LGBTQ+ Americans, a second term would be even worse,” said Cathryn Oakley, senior director of legal policy at the Human Rights Campaign.
