
Donald Trump's transition team is already vetting potential candidates to serve in his administration when he returns to the White House in January.
On Thursday, he made the first announcement, naming his co-campaign manager Susan Summerall Wiles as White House chief of staff.
Many of the figures who served under Trump in his first term do not plan to return, although a loyal handful are said to be returning.
But the US president-elect is now surrounded by a new cast of characters who could fill his cabinet, the White House and serve in key roles across government. Here's a look at some of the names floating around for the top jobs.
Robert F Kennedy Jr
The last two years have been quite a journey for the grandson of former President John F Kennedy. An environmental lawyer by profession, he ran for president as a Democrat, with most of his family speaking out against his anti-vaccine views and conspiracy theories, while they endorsed Joe Biden's re-election.
He then moved on to run as an independent, but, failing to gain traction amid a series of controversies, dropped out of the race and joined Trump.
In the last two months of the 2024 election cycle, he led a Trump campaign initiative called "Make America Healthy Again."

Trump recently promised to play a bigger role with public health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Safety Administration (FDA).
RFK Jr., as he is known, recently asserted that he would push for the removal of fluoride from drinking water because "it's a very bad way to get it into our systems," although this has been challenged by some experts.
And in an interview with NBC News, Kennedy dismissed the idea that he was "anti-vaccine," saying he wouldn't "take away anybody's vaccines," but instead would provide them with "the best information ” to make their choices.
Instead of a formal cabinet position, Kennedy used the interview to suggest that he might take on a broader role within the White House.
Susie Wiles
Trump's landslide victory over Kamala Harris was orchestrated by campaign co-chairs Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, whom he referred to in his victory speech Wednesday as the "ice woman."
She has since been confirmed as the next chief of staff under Trump's second administration, Trump's first confirmed appointment of his second term, making her the first woman to hold the role.
Wiles, who Trump claimed "likes to stay in the background," is considered one of the most feared and respected political operatives in the country.
Less than a year after entering politics, she worked on Ronald Reagan's successful 1980 presidential campaign and later became a White House programmer.

In 2010, she turned Rick Scott, then a businessman with little political experience, into governor of Florida in just seven months. Scott is now a US Senator.
Wiles met Trump during the 2015 Republican presidential primary, and she became his campaign co-chair in Florida, then considered a swing state. Trump went on to narrowly defeat Hillary Clinton there in 2016.
Wiles has been praised by Republicans for her ability to respect and control the outsize egos of those in the president-elect's orbit, which could enable her to impose a sense of order that none of his four previous chiefs of staff could. couldn't.
Elon Musk
The world's richest man announced his support for the former president earlier this year, despite saying in 2022 that "it's time for Trump to throw in his hat and sail off into the sunset."
The tech billionaire has since emerged as one of Trump's most visible and well-known supporters and has donated more than $119m (£91.6m) this election cycle to America PACl, a political action committee he set up to supported the former president.
Musk, the head of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of social media platform X, also launched a voter registration drive that included a $1 million (£771,000) donation to a random voter in swing states each day during the shutdown period of campaign.

Since registering as a Republican ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, Musk has been increasingly vocal on issues including illegal immigration and transgender rights.
Both Musk and Trump have focused on the idea of him leading a new "Department of Government Efficiency," where he would cut costs, reform regulations and run what he calls a "massive federal bureaucracy, suffocating".
Acronym for the potential agency, DOGE is a playful reference to a "meme-currency" cryptocurrency that Musk has previously promoted.
Mike Pompeo
The former congressman from Kansas served as director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and then secretary of state during the first Trump administration.
Një fajkua i politikës së jashtme dhe një mbështetës i ashpër i Izraelit, ai luajti një rol shumë të dukshëm në lëvizjen e Ambasadës së SHBA në Izrael nga Tel Avivi në Jerusalem. Ai ishte ndër lojtarët kryesorë në zbatimin e Marrëveshjeve të Abrahamit, të cilat normalizuan marrëdhëniet midis Izraelit dhe Emirateve të Bashkuara Arabe dhe Bahreinit.

Ai mbeti një mbrojtës besnik i shefit të tij, duke bërë shaka se do të kishte “një tranzicion të qetë në një administratë të dytë Trump” mes pretendimeve të rreme të Trump për mashtrime zgjedhore në fund të vitit 2020.
Ai është konsideruar si një pretendent kryesor për rolin e sekretarit të mbrojtjes, së bashku me Michael Waltz, një ligjvënës nga Florida dhe veteran ushtarak, i cili ulet në komitetin e shërbimeve të armatosura në Dhomën e Përfaqësuesve të SHBA.
Richard Grenell
Richard Grenell shërbeu si ambasador i Trump në Gjermani, i dërguar i posaçëm në Ballkan dhe drejtori i tij në detyrë i inteligjencës kombëtare.
Republikani ishte gjithashtu i përfshirë shumë në përpjekjet e Trump për të përmbysur humbjen e tij në zgjedhjet e vitit 2020, në shtetin e Nevadës. Trump vlerëson besnikërinë e Grenellit dhe e ka përshkruar atë si “të dërguarin tim”.

Në shtator, ai u ul në takimin privat të Trump me presidentin ukrainas Volodymyr Zelensky. Ish-presidenti shpesh ka pretenduar se do t’i japë fund luftës në Ukrainë “brenda 24 orëve” nga marrja e detyrës dhe Grenell ka mbrojtur krijimin e një zone autonome në Ukrainën lindore si një mjet për këtë qëllim, një ide që shihet si e papranueshme nga Kievi.
Ai konsiderohet si një pretendent për sekretar shteti ose këshilltar për sigurinë kombëtare, një pozicion që nuk kërkon konfirmimin e Senatit.
Karoline Leavitt
Sekretarja kombëtare e shtypit e fushatës Trump 2024 ka shërbyer më parë në zyrën e shtypit të Shtëpisë së Bardhë, si ndihmës sekretare shtypi.

27-vjeçarja Gen-Zer (një person i lindur midis fundit të viteve 1990 dhe fillimit të viteve 2010) bëri një përpjekje për t’u bërë gruaja më e re e zgjedhur ndonjëherë në Kongresin Amerikan në vitin 2022, për të përfaqësuar një vend në shtetin e saj të lindjes, New Hampshire, por nuk arriti.
Ajo supozohet të bëhet sekretare e shtypit e Shtëpisë së Bardhë, pozicioni më publik në kabinet.
Tom Homan
Tom Homan shërbeu si ushtrues detyre i Drejtorisë së Emigracionit dhe Doganave në SHBA (Ice) gjatë administratës së parë Trump, ku ai ishte një ithtar i ndarjes së fëmijëve emigrantë nga prindërit e tyre si një mënyrë për të penguar kalimet e paligjshme.
Ai më vonë dha dorëheqjen nga pozicioni i tij Ice në 2018, në mes të presidencës Trump.
Që atëherë ai është shfaqur si një figurë kyçe në zhvillimin e planit të deportimit masiv të emigrantëve të Trumpit dhe është cilësuar si një zgjedhje e mundshme për të drejtuar Departamentin e Sigurisë Kombëtare.

Homan spoke about the eviction plan last month in an interview with the BBC's US partner CBS News, saying it "won't be - a massive neighborhood clearance".
"They will be targeted arrests. We'll know who we're going to arrest, where we're most likely to find them based on multiple, you know, investigative processes,” he said.