President-elect Trump’s team has stayed quiet on who will fill his White House and Cabinet as officials huddle in Trump Tower for the sixth straight day to pore over their contenders. But former campaign hands and longtime allies have filtered in and out of the Manhattan skyscraper since last week’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton, offering a window into who Trump may be looking to advise him on the first major decisions of his presidency.
“In some ways, the people there aren’t surprising,” said Christopher Devine, political science professor at the University of Dayton. “We’re seeing a lot of people who have been close to Trump throughout the campaign.”
“Depending on who’s visiting, it creates speculation about who’s joining the cabinet,” Devine said. “I suspect some of them are, but some of them are just providing consultation.”
Trump has already announced he will name Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, as his chief of staff and Steve Bannon, former CEO of the Trump campaign and head of Breitbart News, as his chief strategist.
But the rest of his administration remains the subject of intense speculation as rumors swirl about who will land the most coveted positions.
“It’s probably a good sign that there’s some diversity in who’s there, that there are people who were loyal to Trump folks,” Devine said of the people who have frequented Trump Tower this week. “But then there are people like Ted Cruz who are outside of that circle.”
Here’s a list of people, in no particular order, who have been spotted at Trump Tower since the president-elect returned from his visit to Washington on Thursday.
Kellyanne Conway
Conway made history last week when she became the first woman to run a successful presidential campaign. She has been seen in Trump Tower every day that the transition team has convened there. Although Conway has indicated Trump offered her a position in the administration, she has not specified what it is or whether she will take it.
Jason Miller
Miller served as a loyal spokesman during Trump’s campaign and continues to be the public face of the Trump operation. As the transition team’s communications director, he has frequently briefed the reporters camped out in the lobby of Trump Tower. Miller told them Wednesday that the transition team is sticking to its own timetable, not the media’s.
Steven Mnuchin
A former Goldman Sachs partner, Mnuchin is a rumored contender to become secretary of the treasury. Mnuchin served as the Trump campaign’s national finance director.
Sen. Jeff Sessions
The Alabama senator was one of the first and only senators to come out forcefully in support of Trump’s candidacy during the GOP primary. Sessions’ influence over the transition process is evident; in addition to his own visits to Trump Tower, Sessions allowed his chief of staff, Rick Dearborn, to become executive director of the transition team and, during the primary, allowed his communications director, Stephen Miller, to decamp for a senior position on the Trump campaign. Sessions’ name has been floated for a number of prominent posts, including secretary of defense and attorney general.
Jeff DeWit
DeWit served as the Trump campaign’s chief operating officer and the Arizona state treasurer.
Charlie Kirk
The founder of conservative grassroots group Turning Point USA, Kirk has been an outspoken Trump supporter throughout the campaign.
Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr.
Trump’s three eldest children have remained at their father’s side since his victory last week. The president-elect even snuck away from Trump Tower early Tuesday evening to join them for dinner in New York City. Trump is said to hold their opinions in high regard.
Devine, a political science professor, noted that while their level of influence is “striking” on its face, it makes sense given their “intimate” roles in running his presidential campaign and business empire.
“When you look at it in the context of this campaign, it doesn’t seem that surprising,” Devine said.
Jared Kushner
Trump’s son-in-law is also said to be an influential figure in Trump’s circle.
Michael Glassner
Glassner served as Trump’s deputy campaign manager from the start and remains one of his closest aides.
Gen. Michael Flynn
A retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, Flynn served as a national security advisor for Trump during the campaign. Flynn is a rumored contender for the position of White House national security advisor, which does not require a Senate confirmation.
Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg
Kellogg served as a foreign policy advisor during the campaign.
Hope Hicks
Hicks joined Trump’s campaign when it began in summer 2015 and has remained his press secretary ever since. She was already a Trump insider, having performed public relations work for Ivanka Trump’s fashion line in 2012 before joining the Trump Organization full-time in 2014.
Sean Spicer
As spokesman for the Republican National Committee, Spicer has blanketed the airwaves in support of Trump since he became the party’s standard-bearer this summer. Spicer’s name has been floated as a possible White House press secretary, along with conservative commentator Laura Ingraham, who has not been seen at Trump Tower.
Boris Epshteyn
A longtime Republican strategist, Epshteyn served as a senior advisor to Trump during the campaign and frequently appeared on cable news to argue Trump’s case.
Anthony Scaramucci
The Wall Street financier sat on Trump’s finance committee during the campaign and was named a member of the transition team’s executive board last week. Scaramucci was also a member of the campaign’s team of economic advisors, which Clinton derided as just “six guys named Steve.”
Eli Miller
After serving as deputy finance director on Sen. Marco Rubio’s unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination, Miller joined the Trump campaign as the chief operating officer of its finance arm.
Rudy Giuliani
Giuliani is one of Trump’s highest-profile supporters. The former New York City mayor has been an enthusiastic proponent of Trump’s policies since the primary race, sticking by the president-elect through some of the campaign’s rockiest moments. Giuliani’s name was first floated in connection with the attorney general position; he has since emerged as a rumored contender for secretary of state.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence
As the newly-installed leader of the transition process, Pence will play a key role in identifying officials for cabinet posts. The Indiana governor traveled to Trump Tower on Tuesday, where he conducted meetings behind closed doors for several hours. Pence has also assumed the responsibility of acting as a liasion between the nascent Trump administration and members of Congress given his vast network of relationships on the Hill.
Charlotte Pence, Karen Pence
The daughter and wife of Vice President-elect Mike Pence visited Trump Tower on Tuesday.
Don McGahn
McGahn served as general counsel to the Trump campaign.
Bryan Lanza
A Citizens United alum, Lanza has directed the campaign’s surrogates since June.
Peter Thiel
Thiel, an outspoken venture capitalist, broke with the ranks of Silicon Valley to support Trump during the presidential race. He spoke from the stage at the Republican National Committee.
Marla Maples
Trump’s second wife and mother of his youngest daughter, Tiffany Trump, was spotted at Trump Tower on Tuesday.
Gerry Gunster, Nigel Farage
The two architects of “Brexit” were photographed with Trump inside his gilded apartment over the weekend. Gunster is a Washington-based operative who helped craft the message of Britain’s “Leave” campaign, and Farage is the leader of the U.K. Independence Party. Trump’s unforeseen victory over an establishment-backed frontrunner has drawn many comparisions to the surprising outcome of the Brexit referendum in June.
Corey Lewandowski
Lewandowski was the first of Trump’s three campaign managers. He has remained a loyal Trump supporter ever since his departure in June, when he joined CNN as a political commentator. Late last week, he resigned from the network within hours of surfacing at Trump Tower.
Sen. Ted Cruz
A former rival for the Republican nomination, Cruz generated controversy this summer when he withheld his endorsement of Trump onstage at the GOP convention. The Texas Tea Partier did not announce his support of the president-elect until late September, and said he only did so due to the significance of the Supreme Court vacancy Trump would fill if elected. Cruz’s unadvertised visit to Trump Tower preceded rumors that he is under consideration to be the next attorney general.
George Gigicos
As director of Trump’s advance team, Gigicos was responsible for the massive rallies that became a hallmark of Trump’s candidacy.
Reince Priebus
The successful RNC chair, who engineered Republican control of all three branches of government when pundits suggested the opposite was a possibility, will become Trump’s chief of staff.
Steve Bannon
Bannon took a leave of absence from Breitbart News, where he was executive chairman, to become the CEO of the Trump campaign in August. He will serve as Trump’s chief strategist in the White House, and was one of the first two campaign leaders to land permanent positions in the administration.
Stephen Miller
Miller was Sessions’ communications director before joining the Trump campaign in January as a senior advisor. He was responsible for many of Trump’s speeches, including the one Trump delivered at the Republican convention. The president-elect named Miller as national policy director of the transition team last week.
Leonard Leo
The executive vice president of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies spoke to reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower on Wednesday about Trump’s Supreme Court picks. Leo met with the president-elect to discuss the 21 potential nominees Trump had listed publicly before the election, and said he was “very heartened” by the interest Trump showed in selecting someone to fill the vacancy created by Justice Antonin Scalia’s death.
Bill De Blasio
The Democratic mayor of New York City visited Trump Tower on Wednesday to warn the president-elect against adopting “exclusionary policies” that could prove “hurtful” to certain groups in his community.
Brad Parscale
Parscale has run Trump’s data shop since May. As digital director for the campaign, Parscale orchestrated multi-million dollar ad buys on social media and oversaw an online get-out-the-vote strategy that helped deliver Trump his victory.
Robert Kraft
The billionaire owner of the New England Patriots stopped by Trump Tower on Wednesday. Kraft is a longtime personal friend of Trump.
Rep. Tom Price
Price chairs the House Budget Committee, a position Paul Ryan commanded before he moved on to become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and, ultimately, the House speaker. The six-term Georgia congressman is rumored to be in contention for secretary of health and human services. Price is a doctor who spent two decades practicing medicine in Atlanta.
Ray Washburne
A longtime Republican donor, Washburne has directed major donations to the past campaigns of President George W. Bush, Mitt Romney and Gov. Chris Christie, among others. He sat on Trump’s “victory fund,” which was set up to collect campaign contributions.
Lara Trump
Trump’s daughter-in-law entered Trump Tower on Wednesday afternoon. She is married to Eric Trump, the third-youngest of Trump’s five children.
