Donald Trump announced his picks for a number of positions in his administration on Tuesday evening. The positions include the President-elect’s nominees for Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services, U.S. Trade Representative and Chairman of the National Economic Council.

Jamieson Greer, a lawyer who worked under Trump’s former trade representative Robert Lighthizer, will serve as U.S. trade representative. In his announcement, Trump said: “Jamieson played a key role during my first term in imposing tariffs against China and other countries to combat unfair trade practices and replacing the failed NAFTA with USMCA, making things much better for American workers .”

If confirmed by the Senate, Greer will be tasked with, among other things, containing the trade deficit and opening “export markets everywhere,” Trump said.

Jim O’Neill will serve as deputy secretary of Health and Human Services under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. O’Neill served in this department under George W. Bush before working in Silicon Valley, where he invested heavily in technology companies alongside PayPal CEO Peter Thiel. Thiel, who advised Trump’s first administration, encouraged the president-elect to nominate O’Neill to a senior health care role in the administration.

O’Neill has been vocally critical of the Food and Drug Administration, saying in a speech in 2014 that the FDA should approve drugs “after their sponsors have demonstrated their safety and allow people to use them at their own risk.” ” and “should demonstrate effectiveness after they have demonstrated their effectiveness.” “were legalized.”

Trump named another top health official and nominated Stanford academic and physician Jay Bhattacharya to head the National Institutes of Health. Bhattacharya has been an outspoken critic of the US government’s Covid policies during the pandemic, releasing the Great Barrington Declaration in October 2020, which called for a return to normal life for those who were not vulnerable to the virus.

The statement – which came before Covid-19 vaccines were available – promoted “herd immunity”, the idea that low-risk people should live normally while building immunity through infection. The proposal was embraced by some in the first Trump administration, including Trump himself, who falsely spoke of “herd mentality” as a way to curb the spread of the virus.

Bhattacharya then sued the government, claiming it pressured social media platforms to censor his opinions. The Supreme Court sided with the Biden administration in this case.

“Together, Jay and RFK Jr. will return the NIH to a gold standard of medical research by investigating the underlying causes and solutions to America’s greatest health challenges, including our chronic disease crisis,” Trump wrote.

Kevin Hassett, a Stanford economist who served as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’s first term, will lead the national economic council.

Hassett “played a critical role in helping me draft and pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017,” Trump said in a statement. “Together we will renew and improve our record tax cuts and ensure we have fair trade with countries that have historically taken advantage of the United States.”

Trump has named Vince Haley, who headed the speechwriting department in his first term, as director of the Domestic Policy Council, which advances the administration’s agenda. Trump adviser and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller welcomed the announcement in a post on social media, saying Haley’s “talent, dedication, determination and deep philosophical commitment to the America First agenda are unmatched.”

John Phelan, co-founder of MSD Capital to manage Michael Dell’s capital, will be secretary of the Navy. Phelan and his wife hosted a private fundraising dinner for Trump in August at their $38 million home in Aspen, Colorado.