Trump’s top team: who’s who?

Donald Trump is building his administration team ahead of retaking the White House in January. (AFP)
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Updated 15 November 2024
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Trump’s top team: who’s who?

  • Trump is starting to fill key posts in his second administration, putting an emphasis so far on aides and allies who were his strongest backers during the 2024 campaign

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump is building his administration team ahead of retaking the White House in January, handing top roles to his closest allies.
While many of his cabinet nominations require approval by the Senate, Trump is trying to bypass that oversight by forcing through so-called recess appointments.
Here are the key people nominated by Trump for positions in his incoming administration:


Billionaire Elon Musk has been named to lead a new “Department of Government Efficiency,” targeting $2 trillion in cuts from the federal government’s $7 trillion budget, according to the businessman — although no one has explained how such drastic cuts would be made.
The world’s richest man has pledged to bring his “hardcore” management style to Washington while promising “fair and humane” transitions for sacked federal workers.
Trump said that another wealthy ally, Vivek Ramaswamy, would co-lead the new department.

Marco Rubio, secretary of state
Trump named Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to be secretary of state, making a former sharp critic his choice to be the new administration’s top diplomat.
Rubio, 53, is a noted hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to be Trump’s running mate on the Republican ticket last summer. Rubio is the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said of Rubio in a statement.

The announcement punctuates the hard pivot Rubio has made with Trump, whom the senator called a “con man” during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination.
Their relationship improved dramatically while Trump was in the White House. And as Trump campaigned for the presidency a third time, Rubio cheered his proposals. For instance, Rubio, who more than a decade ago helped craft immigration legislation that included a path to citizenship for people in the US illegally, now supports Trump’s plan to use the US military for mass deportations.




Florida Senator Marco Rubio, Trump's choice as his top diplomat, called Trump a “con man” during his unsuccessful campaign for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination. (AFP/File photo)

 

Matt Gaetz, attorney general
Trump said Wednesday he will nominate Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz to serve as his attorney general, naming a loyalist in the role of the nation’s top prosecutor.
In selecting Gaetz, 42, Trump passed over some of the more established lawyers whose names had been mentioned as being contenders for the job.

“Matt will end Weaponized Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organizations and Restore Americans’ badly-shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement.
Gaetz resigned from Congress Wednesday night. The House Ethics Committee has been investigating an allegation that Gaetz paid for sex with a 17-year-old, though that probe effectively ended when he resigned. Gaetz has denied any wrongdoing.




Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz will head the department, which for years has carried out an investigation into sex trafficking and obstruction of justice allegations involving him. (Reuters photo)

 

Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense
Hegseth, 44, is a co-host of Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends Weekend” and has been a contributor with the network since 2014, where he developed a friendship with Trump, who made regular appearances on the show.
Hegseth is a US Army veteran but lacks senior military and national security experience. If confirmed by the Senate, he would inherit the top job during a series of global crises — ranging from Russia’s war in Ukraine and the ongoing attacks in the Middle East by Iranian proxies to the push for a ceasefire between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and escalating worries about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.
Hegseth is also the author of “The War on Warriors: Behind the Betrayal of the Men Who Keep Us Free,” published earlier this year.
Trump has said that “with Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice.”




Host Pete Hegseth speaks onstage during the 2023 FOX Nation Patriot Awards at The Grand Ole Opry on November 16, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (AFP/File Photo)

Tulsi Gabbard, director of national intelligence

Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard has been tapped by Trump to be director of national intelligence, keeping with the trend to stock his Cabinet with loyal personalities rather than veteran professionals in their requisite fields.
Gabbard, 43, was a Democratic House member who unsuccessfully sought the party’s 2020 presidential nomination before leaving the party in 2022. She endorsed Trump in August and campaigned often with him this fall.
“I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community,” Trump said in a statement.
Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades, deploying to Iraq and Kuwait, would come to the role as somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 following several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.




Former Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, a former Army National Guard officer who saw service in Iraq and Kuwait, left the Democratic Party after an unsuccessful bid for the party's 2020 presidential nomination. (AFP photo)

Kristi Noem, secretary of homeland security

Longtime Trump loyalist and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem was selected to head the Department of Homeland Security, a key role in any Trump plan to restrict immigration or deport undocumented migrants en masse as he has promised. In addition to key immigration agencies, the department oversees natural disaster response, the US Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration agents who work at airports.

In her memoir, Noem recounted having shot dead an “untrainable” pet dog after a hunting excursion gone awry. The 52-year-old has said her action showed she was able to make tough choices.

Noem used her two terms leading a tiny state to vault to a prominent position in Republican politics.
South Dakota is usually a political afterthought. But during the COVID-19 pandemic, Noem did not order restrictions that other states had issued and instead declared her state “open for business.” Trump held a fireworks rally at Mount Rushmore in July 2020 in one of the first large gatherings of the pandemic.
 




South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is set to lead an agency crucial to the president-elect’s hard-line immigration agenda. (AFP)

Elize Stefanik, United Nations ambassador
Stefanik is a representative from New York and one of Trump’s staunchest defenders going back to his first impeachment.
Elected to the House in 2014, Stefanik was selected by her GOP House colleagues as House Republican Conference chair in 2021, when former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney was removed from the post after publicly criticizing Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election. Stefanik, 40, has served in that role ever since as the third-ranking member of House leadership.
Stefanik’s questioning of university presidents over antisemitism on their campuses helped lead to two of those presidents resigning, further raising her national profile.
If confirmed, she would represent American interests at the UN as Trump vows to end the war waged by Russia against Ukraine that began in 2022.




Elise Stefanik will represent the Trump administration at the UN as the world body grapples with the war in Ukraine as well as Israel’s bombardments of Gaza and Lebanon. (AP)

Susie Wiles, chief of staff
Wiles, 67, was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager.
Wiles has a background in Florida politics. She helped Ron DeSantis win his first race for Florida governor. Six years later, she was key to Trump’s defeat of him in the 2024 Republican primary.
Wiles’ hire was Trump’s first major decision as president-elect and one that could be a defining test of his incoming administration considering her close relationship with the president-elect. Wiles is said to have earned Trump’s trust in part by guiding what was the most disciplined of Trump’s three presidential campaigns.
Wiles was able to help keep Trump on track as few others have, not by criticizing his impulses, but by winning his respect by demonstrating his success after taking her advice.




Susie Wiles, senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and its de facto manager, was the first to be named to Trump's forthcoming cabinet. She will be his chief of staff. (REUTERS)


Tom Homan, ‘border czar’
Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.
Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign.
Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump’s policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border.
 




Tom Homan is a former acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Getty Images/AFP)

Homan, 62, has been tasked with Trump’s top priority of carrying out the largest deportation operation in the nation’s history.
Homan, who served under Trump in his first administration leading US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was widely expected to be offered a position related to the border, an issue Trump made central to his campaign.
Though Homan has insisted such a massive undertaking would be humane, he has long been a loyal supporter of Trump’s policy proposals, suggesting at a July conference in Washington that he would be willing to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”
Democrats have criticized Homan for defending Trump’s “zero tolerance” policy on border crossings during his first administration, which led to the separation of thousands of parents and children seeking asylum at the border.

John Ratcliffe, CIA director
Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term, leading the US government’s spy agencies during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I look forward to John being the first person ever to serve in both of our Nation’s highest Intelligence positions,” Trump said in a statement, calling him a “fearless fighter for the Constitutional Rights of all Americans” who would ensure “the Highest Levels of National Security, and PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH.”




 John Ratcliffe was director of national intelligence during the final year and a half of Trump’s first term. (AP/File)

Steven Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East
The 67-year-old Witkoff is the president-elect’s golf partner and was golfing with him at Trump’s club in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sept. 15, when the former president was the target of a second attempted assassination.
Witkoff “is a Highly Respected Leader in Business and Philanthropy,” Trump said of Witkoff in a statement. “Steve will be an unrelenting Voice for PEACE, and make us all proud.”
Trump also named Witkoff co-chair, with former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of his inaugural committee.




Businessman Steve Witkoff stands onstage with Donald Trump during a campaign rally at Atrium Health Amphitheater in Macon, Georgia, on Nov. 3, 2024. (REUTERS)

Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel
Huckabee is a staunch defender of Israel and his intended nomination comes as Trump has promised to align US foreign policy more closely with Israel’s interests as it wages wars against the Iran-backed Hamas and Hezbollah.
“He loves Israel, and likewise the people of Israel love him,” Trump said in a statement. “Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East.”
Huckabee, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination in 2008 and 2016, has been a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom support Israel due to Old Testament writings that Jews are God’s chosen people and that Israel is their rightful homeland.
Trump has been praised by some in this important Republican voting bloc for moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel, calling for a so-called “one-state solution.”




Mike Huckabee has rejected a Palestinian homeland in territory occupied by Israel, calling for a so-called “one-state solution.” (AP)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Health and Human Services Secretary
Kennedy ran for president as a Democrat, than as an independent, and then endorsed Trump. He's the son of Democratic icon Robert Kennedy, who was assassinated during his own presidential campaign.
The nomination of Kennedy to lead the Department of Health and Human Services alarmed people who are concerned about his record of spreading unfounded fears about vaccines. For example, he has long advanced the debunked idea that vaccines cause autism.




Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and his wife Cheryl Hines arrive before President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a gala at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Thursday, Nov. 14. (AP)

Mike Waltz, national security adviser
Waltz is a three-term GOP congressman from east-central Florida. He served multiple tours in Afghanistan and also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser when Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates were defense chiefs.
He is considered hawkish on China, and called for a US boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing due to its involvement in the origin of COVID-19 and its mistreatment of the minority Muslim Uighur population.




Former Rep. Michael Waltz, Trump's pick for the national security adviser post, is a former army special forces veteran and noted China hawk Michael Waltz. (AFP)

Dan Scavino, deputy chief of staff
Scavino, whom Trump’s transition referred to in a statement as one of “Trump’s longest serving and most trusted aides,” was a senior adviser to Trump’s 2024 campaign, as well as his 2016 and 2020 campaigns. He will be deputy chief of staff and assistant to the president.
Scavino had run Trump’s social media profile in the White House during his first administration. He was also held in contempt of Congress in 2022 after a month-long refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House committee’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.




Dan Scavino was a White House deputy chief of ataff for communications during Trump's first term. (AFP)

Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff for policy
Miller, an immigration hard-liner, was a vocal spokesperson during the presidential campaign for Trump’s priority of mass deportations. The 39-year-old was a senior adviser during Trump’s first administration.
Miller has been a central figure in some of Trump’s policy decisions, notably his move to separate thousands of immigrant families.
Trump argued throughout the campaign that the nation’s economic, national security and social priorities could be met by deporting people who are in the United States illegally. Since Trump left office in 2021, Miller has served as the president of America First Legal, an organization made up of former Trump advisers aimed at challenging the Biden administration, media companies, universities and others over issues such as free speech and national security.




Political adviser Stephen Miller speaks during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meeting on February 23, 2024, in National Harbor, Maryland. (AFP)

Lee Zeldin, Environmental Protection Agency
Zeldin does not appear to have any experience in environmental issues, but is a longtime supporter of the former president. The 44-year-old former US House member from New York wrote on X, “We will restore US energy dominance, revitalize our auto industry to bring back American jobs, and make the US the global leader of AI.”
“We will do so while protecting access to clean air and water,” he added.
During his campaign, Trump often attacked the Biden administration’s promotion of electric vehicles, and incorrectly referred to a tax credit for EV purchases as a government mandate. Trump also often told his audiences during the campaign that his administration would “drill, baby, drill,” referring to his support for expanded petroleum exploration.
In a statement, Trump said Zeldin “will ensure fair and swift deregulatory decisions that will be enacted in a way to unleash the power of American businesses, while at the same time maintaining the highest environmental standards, including the cleanest air and water on the planet.”




Former Representative Lee Zeldin speaks during the third day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 17, 2024. (AFP)

James Blair, deputy chief of staff
Blair was political director for Trump’s 2024 campaign and for the Republican National Committee. He will be deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs and assistant to the president.
Blair was key to Trump’s economic messaging during his winning White House comeback campaign this year, a driving force behind the candidate’s “Trump can fix it” slogan and his query to audiences this fall if they were better off than four years ago.

Taylor Budowich, deputy chief of staff
Budowich is a veteran Trump campaign aide who launched and directed Make America Great Again, Inc., a super PAC that supported Trump’s 2024 campaign. He will be deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel and assistant to the president.
Budowich also had served as a spokesman for Trump after his presidency.

William McGinley, White House counsel
McGinley was White House Cabinet secretary during Trump’s first administration, and was outside legal counsel for the Republican National Committee’s election integrity effort during the 2024 campaign.
In a statement, Trump called McGinley “a smart and tenacious lawyer who will help me advance our America First agenda, while fighting for election integrity and against the weaponization of law enforcement.”


UK announces new funding for UNRWA

Updated 5 sec ago
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UK announces new funding for UNRWA

  • Britain’s annual £21m will be topped up by £13m
  • Decision follows meeting between PM Keir Starmer, aid agency chief Philippe Lazzarini

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged an additional £13 million ($16.56 million) to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

The announcement followed a meeting between him and UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini in London on Wednesday.

Starmer gave his condolences to the agency for the deaths of staff members killed in Gaza. The pair agreed that more needs to be done to protect aid workers in the Palestinian enclave, and reiterated their calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

The money will come on top of the £21 million per year already given to UNRWA by the UK, which was temporarily suspended by the former government after Israel accused 12 agency members of taking part in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in 2023.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was “reassured” that UNRWA met UK government standards for vetting employees following an independent review of the situation.

UNRWA was established in 1949 to help Palestinian refugees. In October, Israel banned it from operating in its territory, hampering its ability to operate in the Occupied Territories.

Starmer condemned the decision, saying it had left him “gravely concerned” and would make it “impossible” for vital work to be done helping displaced and vulnerable Palestinian civilians.


Hong Kong court convicts 7 men, including former lawmaker, of rioting during 2019 protests

Updated 20 min 17 sec ago
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Hong Kong court convicts 7 men, including former lawmaker, of rioting during 2019 protests

  • Prosecutors accused former legislator Lam Cheuk-ting and the six other defendants of provoking members of a group of about 100 armed men
  • The men claimed to be protecting their homeland in Yuen Long, a residential district in Hong Kong’s New Territories

HONG KONG: A Hong Kong judge on Thursday convicted seven people, including a pro-democracy former lawmaker, of rioting during mob violence at a subway station at the height of the city’s anti-government protests in July 2019.
Prosecutors accused former legislator Lam Cheuk-ting and the six other defendants of provoking members of a group of about 100 men armed with wooden poles and metal rods who attacked protesters and bystanders at a train station. The men, all clad in white shirts, in contrast with the black worn by protesters, claimed to be protecting their homeland in Yuen Long, a residential district in Hong Kong’s New Territories.
Dozens of people, including Lam, were injured in the violence, a key chapter that escalated the protest movement as the public criticized police for their delayed response. The landmark ruling could shape the city’s historical narrative of the incident.
Judge Stanley Chan ruled that Lam was not acting as a mediator as he had claimed, but rather was trying to exploit the situation for political gain.
He said Lam’s words directed at the white-shirted men had “fanned the flames.”
The seven defendants are expected to be sentenced in February. Several members of the public sitting in the gallery cried after hearing the verdicts. Others waved at the defendants, with one shouting to Lam, “Hang in there, Ting!” Lam appeared to be at ease.
The prosecution alleged the defendants had either berated the white-shirted men, used obscene hand gestures, hurled objects or shot jets of water at them with a hosepipe.
The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the rioting charge.
During the trial, Lam said he chose to go to Yuen Long because he hoped his then position as a lawmaker could pressure the police to act quickly. He said he could not leave the scene while fellow residents were in danger. Some defendants who targeted the white-shirted men with a hosepipe argued that they were just trying to stop the attackers from advancing.
Chan, the judge, rejected the arguments of some defendants that they acted in self-defense.
The 2019 protests were sparked by a proposed extradition law that would have allowed criminal suspects in Hong Kong to be sent to the mainland for trial. The government withdrew the bill, but the protesters widened their demands to include direct elections for the city’s leaders and police accountability.
The social movement was the biggest challenge to the Hong Kong government since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. In response, Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020, leading to the arrest of many activists. Others were silenced or went into exile.
In November, Lam was sentenced to six years and nine months in jail in the city’s biggest national security case.
More than 10,000 people were arrested in connection to the protests for various crimes, such as rioting and participating in an unauthorized assembly. About 10 white-shirted men were convicted in other cases related to the mob violence in July 2019, local media reported.


Taliban minister killing renews concerns over Daesh threat in Afghanistan

Updated 16 min 37 sec ago
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Taliban minister killing renews concerns over Daesh threat in Afghanistan

  • Khalil Haqqani was killed by a suicide bomber inside his ministry’s compound
  • He is the most high-profile Taliban casualty since the group’s return to power

KABUL: The killing of Afghanistan Refugee Minister Khalil Haqqani has raised new concerns about a Daesh threat in the country, analysts said on Thursday, as the group claimed responsibility for the suicide blast that killed the Taliban official in Kabul.

Haqqani was a senior leader of a powerful faction within the Taliban called the Haqqani network. He became a minister when the Taliban returned to power after US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

Haqqani was the brother of famous guerrilla leader and Haqqani network founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, who fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s. His nephew, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the current interior minister.

Daesh-run media said on Wednesday evening that it was responsible for the explosion that killed the minister hours earlier at the Ministry of Refugees compound in central Kabul, carried out by a suicide bomber.

The Taliban later confirmed in a statement that Daesh was behind the attack, which killed and injured several others.

“(Haqqani) was a major figure whose politico-military career spanned decades and whose network and contracts transcended not just political divides across the Afghan spectrum but also extended deep into the tribal areas of Pakistan,” Ahmad Waleed Kakar, analyst and founder of The Afghan Eye media platform, told Arab News.

Coming from a tribe inhabiting the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Haqqani’s family has been influential in resolving tribal conflicts and addressing issues at the community level.

After the 2001 US invasion ousted the Taliban from their first stint in power, the faction was responsible for many attacks during the movement’s 20-year insurgency against foreign troops and influence in the country.

In 2011, the US classified Haqqani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, putting a $5 million bounty on his head.

“His killing will be a huge political blow to the Taliban given his history of pragmatic mediation in the movement,” Kakar said.

“Whilst Daesh have been unable to meaningfully consolidate their control over specific geography in Afghanistan or pose a military threat to the Taliban, their limited presence means they remain able to exploit faults in Taliban security and target key figures.”

A regional affiliate of Daesh, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, has been a rival group to the Taliban since it emerged in Afghanistan a decade ago.

Following the Taliban takeover in August 2021, ISKP has continued its campaign against the new regime. While deadly blasts have become rare, last year ISKP claimed the explosion that killed the Taliban governor of northern Balkh province. A few months later, the group assassinated the acting governor of Badakhshan in Afghanistan’s northeast.

Haqqani is the most high-profile casualty of an attack in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power.

“The killing of Khalil Rahman Haqqani is a deeply tragic incident, not only for the Taliban but also for Afghans and the international community. Mr. Haqqani was widely regarded as a pragmatic and moderate leader within the Taliban. Following the collapse of the republic, he was seen in Kabul, personally assuring former leaders of the republic about their safety,” Tameem Bahiss, a Kabul-based security analyst, told Arab News.

“While the Taliban have made significant strides in weakening ISKP’s presence in Afghanistan, this attack on Mr. Haqqani will undoubtedly heighten concerns among the Taliban leadership, leaving them more alarmed and cautious.”


Taliban minister’s killing renews concerns over Daesh threat in Afghanistan

Updated 37 min 9 sec ago
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Taliban minister’s killing renews concerns over Daesh threat in Afghanistan

  • Khalil Haqqani was killed by a suicide bomber inside his ministry’s compound
  • He is the most high-profile Taliban casualty since the group’s return to power

KABUL: The killing of Afghanistan’s Refugee Minister Khalil Haqqani, has raised new concerns about a Daesh threat in the country, analysts said on Thursday, as the group claimed responsibility for the suicide blast that killed the Taliban official in Kabul.
Khalil Haqqani was a senior leader of a powerful faction within the Taliban called the Haqqani network. He became a minister when the Taliban returned to power after US-led forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.
Haqqani was the brother of the famous guerrilla leader and the Haqqani network’s founder Jalaluddin Haqqani, who fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s. His nephew, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the current interior minister.
Daesh-run media said on Wednesday evening that the explosion that killed the minister hours earlier at the Ministry of Refugees compound in central Kabul was carried out by its suicide attacker.
The Taliban later confirmed in a statement that Daesh was behind the attack, which killed and injured several others.
“(Haqqani) was a major figure whose politico-military career spanned decades and whose network and contracts transcended not just political divides across the Afghan spectrum but also extended deep into the tribal areas of Pakistan,” Ahmad Waleed Kakar, analyst and founder of The Afghan Eye media platform, told Arab News.
Coming from a tribe inhabiting the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, Haqqani’s family has been influential in resolving tribal conflicts and addressing issues at the community level.
After the 2001 US invasion ousted the Taliban from their first stint in power, the faction was responsible for many attacks during the movement’s 20-year insurgency against foreign troops and influence in the country.
In 2011, the US classified Haqqani as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, offering a $5 million bounty on his head.
“His killing will be a huge political blow to the Taliban given his history of pragmatic mediation in the movement,” Kakar said.
“Whilst Daesh have been unable to meaningfully consolidate their control over specific geography in Afghanistan or pose a military threat to the Taliban, their limited presence means they remain able to exploit faults in Taliban security and target key figures.”
A regional affiliate of Daesh, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province, has been a rival group to the Taliban since it emerged in Afghanistan a decade ago.
Following the Taliban takeover of the country in 2021, ISKP has continued its campaign against the new Taliban regime. While deadly blasts have become rare since the Taliban seized power in August 2021, last year ISKP claimed the explosion that killed the Taliban governor of northern Balkh province. A few months later, the group assassinated the acting governor of Badakhshan in Afghanistan’s northeast.
Haqqani is the most high-profile casualty of an attack in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power.
“The killing of Khalil Rahman Haqqani is a deeply tragic incident, not only for the Taliban but also for Afghans and the international community. Mr. Haqqani was widely regarded as a pragmatic and moderate leader within the Taliban. Following the collapse of the republic, he was seen in Kabul, personally assuring former leaders of the republic about their safety,” Tameem Bahiss, a Kabul-based security analyst, told Arab News.
“While the Taliban have made significant strides in weakening ISKP’s presence in Afghanistan, this attack on Mr. Haqqani will undoubtedly heighten concerns among the Taliban leadership, leaving them more alarmed and cautious.”


Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

Updated 12 December 2024
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Biden commutes roughly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people in biggest single-day act of clemency

  • The commutations are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released
  • It is customary for a president to grant mercy at the end of his term, using the power of the office to wipe away records or end prison terms

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden is commuting the sentences of roughly 1,500 people who were released from prison and placed on home confinement during the coronavirus pandemic and is pardoning 39 Americans convicted of nonviolent crimes. It’s the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history.
The commutations announced Thursday are for people who have served out home confinement sentences for at least one year after they were released. Prisons were uniquely bad for spreading the virus and some inmates were released in part to stop the spread. At one point, 1 in 5 prisoners had COVID-19, according to a tally kept by The Associated Press.
Biden said he would be taking more steps in the weeks ahead and would continue to review clemency petitions. The second largest single-day act of clemency was by Barack Obama, with 330, shortly before leaving office in 2017.
“America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,” Biden said in a statement. “As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for non-violent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses.”
The clemency follows a broad pardon for his son Hunter, who was prosecuted for gun and tax crimes. Biden is under pressure from advocacy groups to pardon broad swaths of people, including those on federal death row, before the Trump administration takes over in January. He’s also weighing whether to issue preemptive pardons to those who investigated Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and are facing possible retribution when he takes office.
Those pardoned Thursday had been convicted of nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses and turned their lives around, White House lawyers said. They include a woman who led emergency response teams during natural disasters; a church deacon who has worked as an addiction counselor and youth counselor; a doctoral student in molecular biosciences; and a decorated military veteran.
The president had previously issued 122 commutations and 21 other pardons. He’s also broadly pardoned those convicted of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the District of Columbia, and pardoned former US service members convicted of violating a now-repealed military ban on consensual gay sex.
Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., and 34 other lawmakers are urging the president to pardon environmental and human rights lawyer Steven Donziger, who was imprisoned or under house arrest for three years because of a contempt of court charge related to his work representing Indigenous farmers in a lawsuit against Chevron.
Others are advocating for Biden to commute the sentences of federal death row prisoners. His attorney general, Merrick Garland, paused federal executions. Biden had said on the campaign trail in 2020 that he wanted to end the death penalty but he never did, and now, with Trump coming back into office, it’s likely executions will resume. During his first term, Trump presided over an unprecedented number of federal executions, carried out during the height of the pandemic.
More pardons are coming before Biden leaves office on Jan. 20, but it’s not clear whether he’ll take action to guard against possible prosecution by Trump, an untested use of the power. The president has been taking the idea seriously and has been thinking about it for as much as six months – before the presidential election – but has been concerned about the precedent it would set, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss internal discussions.
But those who received the pardons would have to accept them. New California Sen. Adam Schiff, who was the chairman of the congressional committee that investigated the violent Jan. 6 insurrection, said such a pardon from Biden would be “unnecessary,” and that the president shouldn’t be spending his waning days in office worrying about this.
A president has the power to both pardon, in which a person is relieved of guilt and punishment, or commute a sentence, which reduces or eliminates the punishment but doesn’t exonerate the wrongdoing. It’s customary for a president to grant mercy at the end of his term, using the power of the office to wipe away records or end prison terms.
Before pardoning his son, Biden had repeatedly pledged not to do so. He said in a statement explaining his reversal that the prosecution had been poisoned by politics. The decision prompted criminal justice advocates and lawmakers to put additional public pressure on the administration to use that same power for everyday Americans. It wasn’t a very popular move; only about 2 in 10 Americans approved of his decision, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.