President-elect Donald Trump is bringing back Sebastian Gorka into the White House to serve as deputy assistant to the president and senior director for counterterrorism, marking his latest back-to-the-future pick as he fills out his inner circle.
The announcement was part of a flurry of nine appointments and nomination announcements from the former president on Friday night. He has been quickly advancing his Cabinet positions and team of closest advisors.
Mr. Trump also said he is nominating Scott Turner, a member of his first administration and a former National Football League player, to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Meanwhile, the president-elect said Alex Wong would serve as assistant to the president and principal deputy national security advisor.
Mr. Gorka and Mr. Wong will walk into their jobs, which do not require Senate confirmation.
Mr. Trump’s nominees for Cabinet posts will have to win confirmation through the GOP-controlled Senate next year.
Mr. Turner is a former player in the NFL who served as the first executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during Mr. Trump’s first stint in the Oval Office.
Mr. Gorka, a British-Hungarian-American media host, has been a fixture in Mr. Trump’s work and the MAGA media circuit for years.
He jumped on the Trump bandwagon early on in the 2016 presidential race, and his loyalty was rewarded when he was tapped to serve as a strategist.
Since then, Mr. Gorka has maintained his unwavering support for Mr. Trump and was a familiar face on the 2024 campaign trail.
In Friday’s announcement, the campaign stressed that Mr. Gorka was a “legal immigrant to the United States, with more than 30 years of National Security experience.”
Mr. Wong is also an alumnus of the first Trump term, during which time he served as deputy special representative for North Korea and deputy assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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