Vice President Tucker Carlson? Axios Drops a Blockbuster Report On Trump’s Potential Cabinet And It’s Just as Wild as You Would Imagine

(AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

A new report provides an in-depth look at the craziest yet most plausible loyalists that Donald Trump may tap for high-ranking positions in his administration if re-elected president.

Axios reported Thursday morning that as Trump continues to dominate the 2024 Republican primary, he seeks to fill the government’s most important jobs with those “who share his zeal to punish critics, purge non-believers, and take controversial legal and military action.”

Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei summed up Trump’s ideal as “all loyalty, no restraints” while explaining that the former president wants those who will help him “to target and jail critics, including government officials and journalists; deport undocumented immigrants or put them in detainment camps, and unleash the military to target drug cartels in Mexico, or possibly crack down on criminals or protesters at home.”

“Trump hasn’t settled on specific roles for specific figures, and hates it when his staff and friends speculate otherwise. It’s not in his DNA to do detailed personnel planning, and a lot depends on the last few people he’s talked to,” the report says. “But in rolling conversations with friends and advisers, he’s been clear about the type of men — and they’re almost all older, white men — he’d want to serve at his pleasure if he were to win a second term.”

The reported list of Trump’s potential VPs consists entirely of hard-right stars like Senator J.D. Vance (OH), Kari Lake, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA). By Axios’ reckoning, however, the most interesting possible vice president is former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who has become Melania Trump’s top choice.

From the report:

She thinks Carlson would make a powerful onstage extension of her husband, a source close to Trump told us. The former first lady has made few campaign appearances this time around — but a Trump-Carlson ticket might encourage her to hit the trail.

Trump, asked last month about Carlson as a potential V.P., said: “I like Tucker a lot. … He’s got great common sense.”

The idea of Tucker Carlson has been discounted by many people close to Trump because they assume he’d never pick someone who could outshine him. And Trump’s staff is convinced (correctly) that Carlson can’t be controlled. But the two men talk a lot.

Other possible top members of a new Trump administration could be Stephen Miller as attorney general, a prospect supported by Carlson, who called him “a serious person and he understands how the system works.” Carlson also pushes for Steve Bannon to be Trump’s White House chief of staff, telling Axios, “Steve believes: If you said we’re building a wall, we’re building a wall.”

Other returning listed Trump favorites include Kash Patel, Ric Grenell, John Ratcliffe, and Jeffrey Clark — the latter of whom remains in legal jeopardy over his role in Trump’s plot to overturn his election loss.