Trump stuns with nomination of loyalist Matt Gaetz for attorney-general

“Few issues in America are more important than ending the partisan Weaponisation of our Justice System,” said Trump, who was recently convicted of falsifying business records to cover up his own sex scandal with porn star Stormy Daniels.

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“Matt will end Weaponised Government, protect our Borders, dismantle Criminal Organisations and restore Americans’ badly shattered Faith and Confidence in the Justice Department.”

The appointment – which still requires confirmation – was the latest in a flurry of cabinet and staff picks on Wednesday, as Trump returned to Washington to meet President Joe Biden following his emphatic election victory against Kamala Harris.

In another unexpected nomination, he also named former Democrat Tulsi Gabbard to serve as his director of national intelligence, putting a sceptic of support for Ukraine in charge of co-ordinating America’s spy agencies.

Gabbard is an Iraq war veteran who represented Hawaii for the Democrats in the US House from 2013 to 2021. Along with Biden and Harris, she ran to be the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in the 2020 election before dropping out of the race and endorsing Biden.

However, she left the party in 2022 and ended up becoming a darling of the MAGA movement and a regular guest on Fox News, serving as a fill-in host on Tucker Carlson’s show before he left the network.

Throughout the campaign, she was one of Trump’s top surrogates, crisscrossing battleground states to help him broaden his appeal among his weakest demographic: suburban women.

She has long been accused of peddling Russian disinformation, including a debunked theory about the US operating biolabs in Ukraine, and has been embroiled in several controversies.

Among them was when she failed to tell Democrats she had met Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad – a key ally of Putin – during a trip to the country where she also dismissed his US-backed opposition as “terrorists”.

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“She is now a proud Republican!” Trump said in a statement. “I know Tulsi will bring the fearless spirit that has defined her illustrious career to our Intelligence Community, championing our Constitutional Rights, and securing Peace through Strength.”

Trump also appointed more allies to key staffing roles on Wednesday, including his campaign senior adviser Dan Scavino as an assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff in the White House.

This may not bode well for Kevin Rudd after Scavino fuelled speculation about the future of Australia’s ambassador to Washington by reposting a congratulatory statement Rudd made to Trump on social media with a GIF of an hourglass.

This was interpreted to mean that Rudd’s time as ambassador may be nearing an end due to disparaging remarks the former prime minister made about Trump while working at an independent think tank.

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