Familiar faces are returning to the White House, with Stephen Miller and Tom Homan re-joining Trump for his second term.

Just over a week after winning back the White House, President-elect Donald Trump has made a series of Cabinet and staff announcements, giving insight into who the power brokers and members of the inner circle may be. Among familiar faces who served in the first Trump White House are administration newcomers who either served as surrogates for Trump or worked on his campaign.

Susie Wiles – White House Chief of Staff

Serving as the top position not requiring Senate confirmation and a position traditionally considered a gatekeeper and information-flow regulator, Susie Wiles will join Trump at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue after working as a de facto campaign manager for the 2024 campaign. A New Jersey native, Wiles will be the first female White House Chief of Staff. Starting her political career on Capitol Hill, she then gained experience working on and running various Republican campaigns, including now-Senator Rick Scott’s race for Florida Governor in 2010. He also worked in the Reagan administration. Wiles’ is known as a “tough and capable” political operator who knows how to “pick the fights that really matter”, which endeared her to President Trump during the campaign.

Tom Homan – Border Czar

Rather than giving policy responsibility to the Vice President as President Joe Biden did, Trump is establishing a separate “Border Czar” in Tom Homan. Homan, a veteran of the first Trump administration during which he ran U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, is described as a “hard-liner” on immigration and border enforcement, an important quality for an issue Trump made a central theme of his campaign.

When announcing Homan as his Border Czar, Trump said “there is nobody better at policing and controlling our Borders.” Critics of the pick believe Homan will deport U.S. citizens, which Homan directly and forcefully rebutted during an appearance on Fox News. Homan, using language his boss would likely approve of, pledged to “run the biggest deportation operation this country’s ever seen.”

Mike Waltz – National Security Advisor

Currently serving as a member of the House of Representatives from Florida, Mike Waltz will serve as Trump’s National Security Advisor. Like many in the Trump policy orbit, Waltz is considered a China hawk and has repeatedly publicly criticized the communist nation. As NSA, Waltz said he will continue that focus, turning attention to strengthening the United States’ relationship with India to counter Beijing. Also similar to other Trump appointees, Waltz is a major supporter of Israel, who voiced “full-throated support” for the Jewish state in its current war against Hamas and Hezbollah. Before serving in Congress, Waltz served nearly three decades in the U.S. Army and National Guard, where he joined the special ops group Green Berets. While serving, he was deployed to Afghanistan and other locations.

Stephen Miller – Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy

Another familiar face from Trump’s first stint in the White House, Stephen Miller will run the policy shop for the President. After leaving the White House, Miller ran the conservative legal non-profit group America First Legal, which used lawsuits and litigation for conservative causes. While serving in the first Trump White House, Miller was among the “architects of some of his most controversial immigration policies.” In line with incoming Border Czar Tom Homan, Miller has “advocated for mass deportations” were Trump to return to office, and will now have a major say in implementing that policy.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy – “Department of Government Efficiency”

The duo of tech entrepreneurs has been tapped by Trump to lead efforts outside the government, “in an advisory manner” to identify wasteful government spending and increase efficiency within the government. Ramaswamy recently said he intends to “slash and burn” the executive bureaucracy while providing outside “counsel to the Office of Management and Budget.”

While beginning to recruit for the venture, Elon Musk posted on X that those interested in working should expect 80 hours per week and no pay. Previously, Musk commented on the “DOGE” operation at Mar-a-Lago, saying the efforts “won’t be business as usual. This is going to be a revolution.” Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, also said Trump has a “mandate to delete the mountain of choking regulations.”