In a post on Truth Social, Donald Trump announced that John Phelan, art collector and head of private-equity firm MSD Capital, is his choice to lead the U.S. Navy. As with many of Trump’s past nominations, Phelan has no experience leading a military branch—nor has he ever served.
Phelan’s fundraising bona fides might have been what got him noticed by famously transactional Trump. From Daily Beast: “One fundraiser he hosted for Trump at his $38 million Aspen, Colorado, home this summer cost $25,000 to $500,000 per couple.”
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Paul Rieckhoff, founder of nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, slammed the selection and Trump’s choices more broadly as “the least qualified and most overtly political cabinet in American history.” With so many media outlets treating Donald’s selections as ho-hum procedural-news bulletins, Rieckhoff’s comments fully meet our absurd moment.
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