{"id":64636,"date":"2016-12-15T23:06:04","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T23:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2016\/12\/15\/trump-picks-his-interior-chief-makes-more-additions-to-national-security-team\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:28:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:28:26","slug":"trump-picks-his-interior-chief-makes-more-additions-to-national-security-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/2016\/12\/15\/trump-picks-his-interior-chief-makes-more-additions-to-national-security-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump picks his Interior chief, makes more additions to national security team"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
President-elect Donald Trump has officially announced his nomination for the head of the Interior Department and has chosen first-term Montana Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke. Trump said in a statement, \u201cAs a former Navy SEAL, he has incredible leadership skills and an attitude of doing whatever it takes to win." Zinke spent 23 years as a Navy SEAL and was elected to Congress in 2014. After the nomination was announced, Zinke said, \u201cI will work tirelessly to ensure our public lands are managed and preserved in a way that benefits everyone for generations to come. Most important, our sovereign Indian Nations and territories must have the respect and freedom they deserve.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

NEW YORK \u2014 Edging closer to completing his Cabinet, President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice of Montana Rep. Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary Thursday, picking a man who should fit smoothly into an administration favoring more energy drilling and less regulation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the evening, he was to embark on his latest campaign victory lap, this time to Pennsylvania, which he wrested from decades in the Democratic column. He also found time to hit Twitter, playing media critic and then stating anew his doubts about charges that Russia hackers tried to disrupt the U.S. election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump praised Zinke, a former Navy SEAL, as having “built one of the strongest track records on championing regulatory relief, forest management, responsible energy development and public land issues.” Zinke, 55, was an early supporter of the president-elect and publicly expressed his interest in a Cabinet post when Trump visited Montana in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

As with several other Cabinet selections, Zinke has advocated increased drilling and mining on public lands and has expressed skepticism about the urgency of climate change. He attracted attention in the 2014 campaign for calling Hillary Clinton “the Antichrist.” House Speaker Paul Ryan praised the pick, saying Zinke “has been an ardent supporter of all-of-the-above energy policies and responsible land management.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his nomination could have a ripple effect on control of the Senate, since Zinke now may forgo what was once a near-certain challenge to Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of Zinke’s backers was Land Tawney, head of sportsmen’s group Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and a friend of Donald Trump Jr. Tawney also has ties to Tester and volunteered for a pro-Tester super PAC a few years ago. But in an interview, Tawney denied a Politico report that his support for Zinke had anything to do with sidelining him from the Senate race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think there are some folks who don’t like the pick of Zinke for that position, and that they’re trying to politicize this to change that, and I think that’s absolutely ridiculous,” said Tawney. He said a focus on preserving public lands led him to oppose other potential nominees, including Washington Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers. <\/p>\n\n\n

<\/atype-video-jwplayer>
The latest cabinet picks for President-elect Donald Trump include a retired general and an analyst from Fox News. The two appointments will fill roles in national security and communications. Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg has been appointed to serve on the National Security Council. Kellogg retired from the Army in 2003 and entered the private sector; he also served in the Vietnam War. Monica Crowley, an analyst with the Fox News Channel, has been appointed to serve as the senior director of strategic communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

Trump also added to his national security team by announcing the appointments of retired Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as chief of staff of the National Security Council and Monica Crowley, a Fox News analyst, as the organization’s director of communications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kellogg spent more than 35 years in the Army and, in 2003, oversaw the efforts to form the new Iraqi military after it was disbanded. Crowley and Fox ended their relationship on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump has two Cabinet selections yet to make though he also needs to fill out much of his White House staff. After a day of meetings at Trump Tower, which includes immigration hardliner Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and some members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Trump was to travel to Hershey, Pennsylvania for a rally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Pennsylvania had not gone for a Republican candidate since 1988. But the Trump campaign staff long thought that the state, rich in white working-class voters, would be receptive to his populist message and not be part of Clinton’s hoped-for firewall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump repeatedly campaigned there and won the state by less than 1 percentage point, giving him a vital 20 electoral college votes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The president-elect was busy on Twitter Thursday morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He again cast doubt on U.S. intelligence assertions about Russia election hacking, writing “If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost?”

If Russia, or some other entity, was hacking, why did the White House wait so long to act? Why did they only complain after Hillary lost? \u2014 Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 15, 2016<\/a> <\/blockquote>