Tangle - The Trump White House comes into focus.

Episode Date: November 12, 2024

In the week since his electoral victory, President-elect Trump has begun announcing his picks for his cabinet and key White House staff. These selections offer the first glimpse of the president-elect’s governing priorities and the leaders who will work to enact his agenda. Ad-free podcasts are here!Many listeners have been asking for an ad-free version of this podcast that they could subscribe to — and we finally launched it. You can go to tanglemedia.supercast.com to sign up!You can read today's podcast⁠ ⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠, our “Under the Radar” story ⁠here and today’s “Have a nice day” story ⁠here⁠.Check out Episode 8 of our podcast series, The Undecideds. Please give us a 5-star rating and leave a comment!Take the survey: What do you think of Trump’s recent appointments? Let us know!You can subscribe to Tangle by clicking here or drop something in our tip jar by clicking here. Our podcast is written by Isaac Saul and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As a Fizz member, you can look forward to free data, big savings on plans, and having your unused data roll over to the following month, every month. At Fizz, you always get more for your money. Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at fizz.ca. From executive producer Isaac Saul, this is Tangle. Good morning, good afternoon and good evening and welcome to the Tangle Podcast, the place we get views from across the political spectrum, some independent thinking and a little bit of my take.

I'm your host, Isaac Sahland, on today's episode. We're going to be talking about Donald Trump's pick and picks, I should say, for cabinet posts. And as he staffs up his White House, we have a lot of new information to work with. He's bringing in a lot of people. So we're going to talk about exactly what has happened in the last few days and then share some views from the left and the right. He's bringing in a lot of people. So we're going to talk about exactly what has happened

in the last few days and then share some views from the left and the right. And as always, my take. Before we get into that, I just want to give one more big hearty thank you to all of you who were just so engaged and stuck with us over the last few weeks and really the last few months heading into this election season. Last week was nuts. It was just a total whirlwind with all the YouTube videos

and live streams and podcasts and This American Life and the newsletters were putting out and the Tangle team all came here to Philadelphia after, you know, we're all used to working remotely from five different places across the country and we're all used to working remotely from five different places across the country and we're all together. And I feel like the dust is just kind of settling, but it was a really remarkable week for us. We, I think, put out some really great coverage and I'm really proud of what the team did. We're small but mighty. And we obviously grew a lot in the last few weeks and have a lot of new readers and listeners, which is something that happens typically around elections, but this year especially was just really massive

and fun and awesome. And I know for some people, this is really exciting with the new administration coming in. Some people, they're really scared or worried. Others are checking out. Wherever you are, whatever you're holding right now, we are really honored and privileged to be here providing you guys with some news

as we head into this next administration. We're gonna stick to the Tangled values of sharing a bunch of views from across the political spectrum, having open minds, embracing the debate, trying to turn the temperature down when we feel like people are being a little alarmist or sensational and all that good stuff.

So super glad to have you guys on board as always. Don't forget if you want to upgrade whatever your listenership or membership is, if you want to get ad free and premium podcasts, you can do that by going to tanglemedia.supercast.com. If you want to get ad free and premium newsletters, that's a separate subscription you can get by going to readtangle.com forward slash membership. And for what it's worth, we know it's annoying

that these are separate subscriptions and we're actually right now working on bundling them and moving them and migrating them together. So that's something I hope we do before the year is out. And yeah, with that, I'm gonna to pass it over to John for today's quick hits and main story and all that good stuff. And I'll be back for my take. Thanks Isaac and welcome everybody. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Before we get started with today's quick hits, I have a correction to make.

Last week during our election results podcast, I was reading a passage from the New York Times editorial board. The passage was supposed to read, those who opposed him should not hesitate to raise alarms when he abuses his power. And if he attempts to use government power to retaliate against critics, the world will be watching. I very unfortunately read, those who oppose him should not hesitate to raise arms when he abuses his power,

and if he attempts to use government power to retaliate against critics, the world will be watching. That was a very unfortunate misread on my part. I'm gonna just chalk it up to being extremely tired after Everything that was going on. I appreciate the reader who emailed us in and pointed this out Pretty embarrassed but also, you know trying to give myself a little bit of grace. It was quite a week that we had I apologize for that misread and with that we'll get into today's quick hits that misread, and with that, we'll get into today's quick hits. First up, Decision Desk HQ projected that House Republicans will retain their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, giving Republicans majorities in both chambers of Congress.

Number two, the Israeli military announced an expansion of the humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. The move comes days before the Biden administration's deadline for Israel to deliver more aid to the enclave or risk a cutoff of military supplies. 3. The United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP29, began on Monday in Azerbaijan, attending countries endorsed carbon credit quality standards to support a UN-backed global carbon market that would fund projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 4. Haiti's International Airport shut down after gangs opened fire at commercial flights

near Port-au-Prince, the country's capital. The U.S. ambassador said the incidents are part of gang-led efforts to block travel to and from Port-au-Prince. 5. New York judge Juan Marchand postponed his ruling on whether to dismiss president-elect Trump's conviction in his hush money case due to the Supreme Court's ruling on presidential immunity. Marchand will now rule on November 19th. President-elect Trump continues to build his administration with loyal supporters.

He announced several key appointments today and they could reshape immigration and the EPA. Also breaking tonight, former President Trump selecting Florida representative and former Green Beret Mike Waltz to lead the Pentagon as national security advisor. We need real reform in the Pentagon. Everything they buy seemingly costs twice as much, delivers half as much and takes twice as long as it should. We need to get a culture of accountability into that place.

No one ever seems to get fired. In the weeks since his electoral victory, President-elect Trump has begun announcing his picks for his cabinet and key White House staff. These selections offer the first glimpse of the President-elect's governing priorities and the leaders who will work to enact his agenda. The President's cabinet is composed of the Vice President, 10 federal officials, and the executive heads of 15 federal agencies like the Department of Agriculture, the Department

of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and others. Cabinet members are appointed by the President, and all but the Vice President and Chief of Staff require Senate confirmation. White House staff also do not require Senate confirmation. In addition to their roles within the federal government, cabinet members are also typically the President's closest advisors. Trump's first high-profile staffing decision was to name Susan Wiles as his White House Chief of Staff.

Wiles is a longtime Republican strategist who is credited with helping Senator Rick Scott win his Senate seat in 2010 and Governor Ron DeSantis win his gubernatorial election in 2018. During the 2024 campaign, she served as Trump's de facto campaign advisor, and she also advised his 2016 and 2020 campaigns, while he becomes the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. Additionally, Trump will reportedly tap Stephen Miller

as deputy chief of staff for policy. Miller was a senior advisor and lead speechwriter in the first Trump administration, during which he advocated for a more restrictive immigration policy. Miller is expected to play a leading role in carrying out Trump's plan to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants. Relatedly, Trump announced that former Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Tom Homan

will serve as his border czar responsible for overseeing the deportation effort. In the last two days, Trump has announced several of his picks to lead federal agencies and fill other key roles. Those nominees are Representative Elsie Stefanik for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Stefanik is the chair of the House Republican Conference and the only woman in House Republican leadership. She has criticized the United Nations, particularly over its approach to Israeli-Palestinian relations, and recently suggested that the Biden administration should consider a complete reassessment of

U.S. funding for the UN if it continues to consider revoking Israel's U.N. membership. Former Representative Lee Zeldin for Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Zeldin served four terms in the House before challenging New York Governor Kathy Hochul in the state's 2022 gubernatorial election, which he lost by a smaller-than-expected margin. Representative Mike Walz for White House National Security Advisor. Walz is a Green Beret veteran who served in Afghanistan, the Middle East, and Africa, and he has served in the House since 2019. Senator Marco Rubio for Secretary of State.

Rubio, a senator since 2010, is seen as a foreign policy hawk who has staked out hardline positions against China and Iran in particular. And Governor Kristi Noem for Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Noem is a staunch supporter of Trump and was at one point considered a leading candidate to be his running mate in 2024. As the DHS head, Noem would oversee offices like Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Secret Service.

Today we'll explore Trump's first high-level appointments with perspectives from the left and the right, and then Isaac's take. We'll be right back after this quick break. get more for your money. Terms and conditions for our different programs and policies apply. Details at phys.ca. All right, first up, let's start with what the left is saying. The left says that Trump's pick of Homan and Miller foreshadow a harsh immigration agenda. Some say that Wiles will face unique challenges as chief of staff compared to her campaign manager role. Others suggest Trump is building a cabinet in his image. In the Atlantic, David A. Graham said Trump's picks signal that he's serious about mass deportation. Was Donald Trump serious about his most draconian plans for a second term? If personnel is policy, as the Ronald Reagan-era maxim states,

then the president-elect is deadly serious, Graham wrote. The selections of Tom Homan and Stephen Miller indicate Trump's intent to pursue a very aggressive Reagan-era maxim states, then the president-elect is deadly serious, Graham wrote. The selections of Tom Homan and Stephen Miller indicate Trump's intent to pursue a very aggressive policy and to sign it as a high priority. Miller, who served as a Trump speechwriter and top advisor previously, has been a hardliner on immigration for his entire career. He has spent the past four years building America First Legal, a nonprofit devoted to fighting for conservative causes.

If Miller is the architect of mass deportation, Homan will be the builder. Homan was a career law enforcement and border official, but his profile changed under Trump as he became a prominent figure, praising Trump for taking the shackles off of ICE officers, Graham said. Homan retired around the time Trump was forced to end that policy, frustrated that the Senate would not confirm him. As borders are, he will likely not require confirmation, though the new Republican Senate majority is expected to be more accommodating to Trump.

In MSNBC, Hayes-Brown suggested the odds of Susan Wilds serving a prolonged tenure as Trump's chief of staff aren't great. Getting placed in this role is something of a cursed reward for Weil's loyalty throughout the campaign. It was her strategy that propelled Trump to a second term after four years out of office, and she survived at the top of his campaign in a way that few other operatives did over his previous two presidential races. It seems highly unlikely, based on precedent, that the same will be said about her time

in the White House, Brown wrote. Trump blew through three and a half chiefs of staff during his four years in office. The first, former Republican National Committee Chair, Reince Priebus, lasted only six months in the job. He was utterly unable to handle the chaos that Trump actively encouraged in his first months in office as multiple nexuses of power struggled for control. None of this history particularly bodes well for the proposition that Wiles can bring the discipline that she attempted to impose on the campaign over to the White House with

her, at least not for very long. But she does have two things going for her, Brown said. The first is that she seems to be aware that there are limits to how many times Trump can be told no before he turns against the messenger. The second thing is that Wiles doesn't appear to be the kind of person who wants to take the spotlight away from Trump. In CNN, Steven Collinson wrote Trump's emerging team of loyalists is primed for a fast start in his second term.

Donald Trump is doing exactly what his sweeping election win entitled him to do by systematically building a governing team in his own hardline MAGA image. What may end up as the modern age's most right-wing West Wing will target Washington elites and undocumented migrants, seek to shed the regulatory state, and tell the rest of the world that from now on, it's America first, Collinson said. Trump is likely to nominate Marco Rubio as Secretary of State. The Florida senator crudely mocked Trump on the 2016 campaign trail and was seen as the kind of neoconservative whom the president-elect's fans love to hate, but Rubio has long since

converted to Trumpism. The likes of Rubio, Waltz, Stefanik, Zeldin, Homan, Noam, and especially Miller are an anthem to Trump critics who fear that the president-elect will head off in extreme directions, but each of these picks personifies one aspect of the president-elect will head off in extreme directions, but each of these picks personifies one aspect of the president-elect's political beliefs and instincts, and their own positions reflect the desire for shakeups in Washington and in U.S. global policy that motivated many of the tens of millions of voters in Trump's election majority. Alright, that is it for what the left is saying, which brings us to what the right is saying. The right supports Trump's choices, particularly Homan, as borders are.

Some say Wild Selection as chief of staff is a strong pick and a rebuke of Trump's critics. Others say Rubio was a prudent pick for Secretary of State. In PJ Media, Robert Spencer praised Homan's tough message on the border. The man who Donald Trump tapped to succeed Kamala Harris as borders are couldn't be more perfect if he was sent over from central casting. Tom Homan is tough, plain-spoken, clear-sighted about what needs to be done to end the border crisis and determined to do the job and do it right, Spencer said.

There are going to be plenty of people who Homan will need to get out of the way. done to end the border crisis and determined to do the job and do it right," Spencer said. There are going to be plenty of people who Homan will need to get out of the way. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said recently that every tool in the toolbox has got to be used to protect our citizens, to protect our residents, and protect our states and to hold the line on democracy and the rule of law as a basic principle. Homan was skeptical, wondering aloud if at least some of his tough talk was mere bluster or else a refusal to accept the reality that others were having to face whether they wanted to or not.

Regarding Healy's defiance, Holman added, If you don't want to work with us, then get the hell out of the way. We're going to do it, Spencer wrote. That was refreshing to hear in light of the fact that illegal migrants are, after all, illegal. In USA Today, Ingrid Jocks said Trump picks a powerful woman as his chief of staff. What do the haters say now? Ahead of the election, billionaire businessman Mark Cuban claimed on the view that former

President Donald Trump eschewed strong women and that he found them intimidating. Donald Trump, you never see him around strong, intelligent women ever, Cuban said. It's just that simple," Jocks wrote. Now that Trump has once again won the presidency, thanks in part to strong women supporting him, more on that shortly, he's proving just how wrong that accusation was. During his campaign, Trump didn't go around promising to appoint anyone in his administration because of their sex. That makes disappointment that much more meaningful. Trump chose Wiles because he thought she'd be the best one to do the job.

Period, Jock said. In contrast, President Joe Biden picked women because he promised to. During his 2020 campaign, Biden swore he'd choose a woman as vice president. And when it came time to nominate a Supreme Court justice, he said it would be a black woman. I found that strategy demeaning, and it cheapened the honor for the women who ultimately got those jobs In the New York Post AG Gankarski argued Rubio is the right choice for Secretary of State

Of all the people on the shortlist Senate colleague Bill Haggerty and former acting director of National Intelligence Rick Grinnell among them the 53 year old Miami Republican is best suited to accomplish Trump's foreign policy aims Gankarski wrote Rubio shows a clear-eyed view of America's myriad challenges on the global stage. We're well past the indispensable nation era of globalism espoused by figures like former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. And America, with $36 trillion in debt, much of it accrued from previous decades' foreign conflicts, needs to pick its spots. Trump has positioned himself as an honest broker in helping to litigate a peace between

Russia and Ukraine, and Rubio would understand the assignment, to get that done in a way that protects America's interest and gives both sides in that brutal war a chance at peace with honor. The senator has also been clear-eyed about the situation in Israel. And it hasn't been simple observation and pontification from afar. He was in the country this year, Gankarski said. He speaks the language and he understands the issues in play, specifically the historic struggle pitting freedom and capitalism against socialism and despotism. All right, that is it for the left and the right are saying, which brings us to my take.

So a few days ago, Vivek Ramaswamy said something on Twitter that caught my eye. He said, a band of small government revolutionaries will save our nation. Elon Musk, who has been sitting in on some very important phone calls with Trump, endorsed the post. I reacted by stating what I think should be obvious by this point. Trump does not need a band of small government loyalists

because Trump is not going to be a small government president. He's calling for mass deportations, new healthcare reform, immigration reform, massive tax cuts, holistic childcare policy, reducing housing costs and major foreign policy resets. These efforts require heavy-handed government and they require people who know how the government works,

people with experience, people in many cases from the quote unquote establishment. One of Trump's mistakes in his first term, one he and his team were willing to openly admit before election season, is that he was not prepared to navigate Washington DC. Veterans of Trump's administration often claim insiders in the cabinet and another high ranking post

worked against Trump, i.e. the quote unquote deep state. And it's true that Trump appointed some people who fundamentally oppose his worldview. But it's's true that Trump appointed some people who fundamentally opposed his worldview. But it's also true that Trump gave a lot of power to his family, friends, and private sector associates who were not experienced enough, did not have the right relationships, and struggled mightily to get basic things done due to staffing, infighting, or basic incompetence. Trump does not appear to be making that mistake this time.

On domestic policy, Trump is finding loyal supporters with government experience who can bridge the gap between the old GOP establishment and the ascendant new right. And everything he's done so far suggests he fully intends to follow through on his mass deportation plan and a calculated deregulatory effort. On the international side, Trump is staffing up for an

administration whose top priority is challenging and limiting China. And for all the criticisms of how Biden and Harris handled the war in Gaza, the team Trump is bringing in appears far more unabashedly pro-Israel than any administration I can remember, a reality I'm not sure that the left has fully confronted. So I'll give my reads on each individual pick, starting domestically. Trump's new chief of staff, Suzy Wiles, is a serious and experienced person respected across the conservative movement. Former Representative Lee Zeldin, the Republican from New York, is about as good a selection for the head of the EPA as concerned environmentalists could have hoped for.

He's a former member of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus and Conservative Climate Caucus who spent eight years in Congress. Democrats will have someone to work with, not necessarily resist, at every turn. It's very clear where Trump is going on immigration. Stephen Miller was tapped as deputy chief of staff and will be on the front lines of an immigration lockdown. Appointing Tom Homan to be the new border star is the strongest signal yet that Trump is going to follow through on his effort to deport millions

of unauthorized immigrants. Homan has already gone on Fox News to warn any criminals and gang members here illegally saying, we're coming for you. Once known as a moderate when he ran ISIS enforcement and removal operations under Obama, Omen has become a champion of Trump's most hardline immigration policies and remains a proponent of family separations.

He's also one of the contributors of Project 2025. Internationally, we are starting to get a clearer picture too. Not that there should have been any doubt, but Trump's administration is shaping up to be far more pro-Israel, anti-China, and hardline on Iran than what we saw under Biden. Representative Michael Waltz, the Republican from Florida, the first Green Beret ever elected to Congress, is a little more green than past national security advisors, but he's also a combat veteran who served as chairman

of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Readiness and was a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. For a taste of what's coming, you might remember that Waltz wanted the US to boycott the Beijing Olympics. Calling him a China hawk is probably an understatement. Senator Marco Rubio, the Republican from Florida,

is rumored to be the pick for Secretary of State. It's a fascinating pick, honestly. One that I think the Israeli newspaper Haaretz accurately described as an attempt to bridge the GOP's hawk-isolationist divide. Rubio has, of course, occupied both of those spaces. He, too, has hard-lined positions on China and Iran, once suggesting the U.S. should consider a direct attack on Tehran, Iran's capital. Last year, Rubio said Hamas was 100% to blame for any Palestinian deaths in Gaza, describing the group as vicious animals.

He's also expressed unwavering support for Israeli military action in Lebanon. Representative Elise Stefanik, the Republican from New York who was picked to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, is also one of the most pro-Israel voices in Congress. She led efforts to investigate anti-Semitism on college campuses, famously questioning college presidents in a way that led to some resignations. She criticized a weapons pause to Israel for preventing quote unquote total victory in Gaza and she suggested the U.S. should do a complete reassessment of U.S. funding for the United Nations after the Palestinian Authority tried to expel Israel

from the UN for human rights abuses in Gaza. The only pick so far that really made me go yikes was the choice for Governor Kristi Noem, the Republican from South Dakota for Homeland Security. Noem obviously has some experience serving as a state executive is one of the most important and difficult jobs there is, and she won reelection in a landslide in 2022.

Before that, she spent five years as a state representative and then eight more years in Congress. So she's no political novice. But this is one of the most powerful jobs in the country. And her policy record on the signature Trump issue of immigration is scant. Aside from supporting Trump's so-called Muslim ban, she legislated

very little on the issue in Congress and naturally has not had much of a role to play on the issue as the governor of South Dakota. She hasn't exactly proven herself capable of navigating the national spotlight either. As pro-Trump conservative pundit Sean Davis put it, quote, Trump hasn't announced this untruth social, so let's hope it's not true. Noam is a lightweight and a completely unserious person, and she is not remotely suited to the most important border security cabinet position in the entire government."

On net, nothing about these appointments is too shocking. Some people who spend too much time on social media might be surprised Trump has tapped some more traditional hawkish foreign policy people, but I'm not. I expect he'll continue to staff up at the intersection of experience and loyalty with hardliners on immigration, China, Iran, and of course, government regulations. We'll be right back after this quick break. The faster money and data move,

the further your business can go to a seamless digital future for Canadians. Let's go faster forward reader in Colorado Springs. They said, I love the Tangle surveys. I found it interesting that a strong majority were going to vote Harris. And in another survey this week, a strong majority approved of her concession speech. I view Tangle as center-left. I wonder how Tangle might be made more attractive to the center-right. Perhaps aiming to receive survey responses that are more balanced could be used as an

indicator of Tangle tracking more to the center-center, thereby minimizing perceived or unconscious bias. So, first of all, I was not at all surprised that our readership widely approved of Harris's concession speech. It earned plaudits from across the political spectrum and in this incredibly divisive time, rightfully so. That poll result didn't really interest me much and I would expect the kind of people who read Tangle to also appreciate a straightforward concession speech.

However, I was pretty shocked by our survey results showing 72% of our readers said they were going to vote for Harris. For five years, our audience has consistently self-identified as about 35 to 40% liberal, 30 to 35% conservative, and 30% independent or other. I was even more shocked after the election, which made it clear that a lot of moderates and centrists

broke for Trump, not Harris, and that a lot of Republicans came home to the party. So I have a few theories about how to explain those responses and the right explanation might be one of them, a combination of them, or something else I'm not thinking of. Theory number one, just days before we ran that survey, our work was

featured prominently by NPR's This American Life. It's hard to overstate the massive impact this had on us. Our newsletter went from about 150,000 readers to over 250,000 in a week, and our memberships and podcast listenership close to doubled. These days, NPR listeners tend to lean left in their politics, so I think the most likely explanation of all of this is just that this rather large group of new subscribers has shifted our readership to the left. Theory number two. Trump voters who retangle, much like Trump voters nationally, are just less interested in or comfortable telling a news outlet how they're going to vote. Our email survey is very unscientific. It's mostly just for fun.

And maybe we are just getting some skewed results because of participation rates. About 3,700 readers of our over 200,000 mailing list took the survey and we don't apply any selective rigor when we pull our readership. Theory number three, it's possible that Tangle is, as you presume, center left. Again, I would reject this notion.

We've been rated by numerous media bias watchdogs as both center and factually accurate, with audiences and panels rating us both center right and center left. But if our coverage or my take is lean center left during the campaign season, the poll results may just be a reflection of that. I don't think that's true, but even if it is,

I'd have to be pretty persuasive to skew our readers that much, not to mention that I said Trump would win. And I suspect theory one and theory two are much more at play, but it's definitely worth throwing this out there too. All right, that is it for today's listener question. I'm gonna send it back to John for the rest of the podcast and I'll see you guys tomorrow.

Have a good one. Peace. Thanks, Isaac. Here's your under the radar story for today, folks. As the dust settles from the 2024 presidential election, one trend has stood out. Independent voters made their voices heard. For the first time since Edison Research began conducting exit polling in 2004, independent share of overall turnout exceeded that of one of the major political parties. Self-identified independent turnout, 34%, up by 8% over 2020, was higher than Democratic turnout, 32%, and equal to Republican turnout.

Vice President Kamala Harris won independence by five points over former President Donald Trump, but Trump improved on his 2020 performance with independence by four points. Reuters has this story and there's a link in today's episode description. Alright next up is our numbers section. The year that President George Washington sent his nomination for the first cabinet member in United States history was 1789, that was Alexander Hamilton for Secretary of Treasury. The initial number of secretaries in Washington's cabinet was four, the Attorney General and Secretaries of War, State, and Treasury.

The year that a fifth cabinet position was added was 1798, that was the Department of the Navy. The year that the Vice President was first invited to join the President's Cabinet was 1921. President Warren G. Harding invited Vice President Calvin Coolidge. The percentage of Donald Trump's Cabinet nominees at the start of his first term who had prior military experience was 29%. The percentage of Trump's Cabinet nominees at the start of his first term who had prior

government experience was 57%. And the percentage of Trump's Cabinet nominees at the start of his first term who had prior government experience was 57%. And the percentage of Trump's cabinet nominees at the start of his first term who had previously served as CEOs was 24%. And last but not least, our Have a Nice Day story. Harriet Tubman, known as the Moses of the Underground Railroad, served in the Civil War as a nurse and a spy and helped over 700 enslaved people reach freedom. While Tubman has long been seen as a hero for her role in the Underground Railroad, her service was recently recognized in a new way.

On Veterans Day, the Maryland National Guard and Governor Westmore posthumously commissioned Tubman as a one-star general in a decision that was unanimously supported in the Maryland General Assembly. I am proud to call Brigadier General Harriet Tubman among the best of us, said Major General Jeanine Burkhead. With courage and selflessness, Harriet Tubman nobly advanced the survival of the Union and the proposition that all people are created equal. CNN has this story and there's a link in today's episode description. All right, everybody, that is it for today's episode.

As always, if you'd like to support our work, please go to reetangle.com and sign up for a membership. You can also go to tanglemedia.supercast.com to sign up for a premium podcast subscription, which gets you ad-free daily podcasts, Friday editions, Sunday editions, interviews, and so much more. We'll be right back here tomorrow.

For Isaac and the rest of the crew, this is John Law signing off. Have a great day, y'all. Peace. Our podcast is written by me, Isaac Saul, and edited and engineered by Dink Thomas. Our script is edited by Ari Weitzman, Will K. Back, Hailey Saul, and Sean Brady. The logo for our podcast was made by Magdalena Bikova, who is also our social media manager. The music for the podcast was produced by Diet 75. And if you're looking for more from Tangle, please go check out our website at reedtangle.com.

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