Donald Trump's team is reportedly looking at former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus for top spots in his cabinet, aides revealed to NBC News.
Trump is reportedly too superstitious to make such plans himself ahead of the actual election, for fear of jinxing the results. His campaign nonetheless is allegedly eyeing Giuliani for attorney general, Gingrich for secretary of state, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for either defense secretary or national security adviser, RNC finance chair Lew Eisenberg for commerce secretary, and Priebus for chief of staff. If Priebus left his position at the RNC as chairman, Corey Lewandowski or Trump's deputy campaign manager David Bossie would reportedly be considered as replacements.
Energy right now, of course, is mainly being pumped into winning the election and plans are still very much up in the air. "It's become a lot more real," an adviser told NBC. Trump, for his part, frowned upon Mitt Romney's decision in 2012 to start considering a cabinet before he won the election.
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Trump's campaign spokesman also said "none of this is accurate" when asked for comment about the names, and that Trump has been "entirely focused on the campaign and the American people."
But a veteran of the George W. Bush White House who spoke with Trump's transition team begged to differ. "They're reaching out to people with experience, they're listening to them, they're taking their counsel," the former official told NBC. "I was very impressed."
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