WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump said Wednesday he will nominate Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida as his attorney general, putting a loyalist in the role of the nation’s top prosecutor .

In selecting the congressman, Trump passed over some of the more established lawyers whose names were mentioned as contenders for the job.

“Matt will end the armed government, protect our borders, dismantle criminal organizations, and restore Americans’ deeply shattered faith and trust in the Justice Department,” Trump said in a statement.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic member of Congress and presidential candidate, to serve as director of national intelligence, continuing to fill his Cabinet with loyal personalities who are his supplement , rather than long-term professionals in their required field.

“As a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, she has broad support in both parties – she is now a proud Republican!” Trump said in a statement. “I know Tulsi will bring to our intelligence community the fearless spirit that defined her illustrious career, standing up for our constitutional rights and securing peace through strength. Tulsi will make us all proud!”

Gabbard, who has served in the Army National Guard for more than two decades and deployed to Iraq and Kuwait, would take on the role of somewhat of an outsider compared to her predecessor. The current director, Avril Haines, was confirmed by the Senate in 2021 after several years in a number of top national security and intelligence positions.

Gabbard has not worked directly in the intelligence community outside of House committees, including two years on the Homeland Security Committee. Like others Trump has picked for leadership in his office, she has been one of his most popular political surrogates, often drawing thunderous responses from the crowd as she supported him in the final months of the campaign.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump called Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida as his nominee for secretary of state Wednesday, appointing a former critic who became one of the president-elect’s fiercest defenders to become the nation’s top diplomat.

The conservative lawmaker is a known hawk on China, Cuba and Iran, and was a finalist to become Trump’s running mate this summer.

On Capitol Hill, Rubio is vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He has pushed for a tougher stance on China and has targeted social media app TikTok because its parent company is Chinese. He and other lawmakers argue that Beijing can demand access to users’ data whenever it wants.

“He will be a strong advocate for our nation, a true friend to our allies, and a fearless warrior who will never give in to our adversaries,” Trump said in a statement about Rubio.

Trump made the announcement while flying back to Florida from Washington after meeting with President Joe Biden.

The selection is the culmination of a long, complicated history between the two men. During their tense battle for the Republican Party nomination in 2016, Rubio was particularly blunt in his criticism of Trump. He called him a “con artist” and “the most vulgar person who ever aspired to the presidency.”

He tried to match Trump’s often crude attacks by joking about the size of Trump’s hands as a reference to his masculinity. Trump responded by labeling Rubio “little Marco,” a nickname that has stuck with the senator for years.

But like many Republicans trying to maintain their relevance in the Trump era, Rubio changed his rhetoric. As speculation that Trump could choose him as his running mate intensified, Rubio tried to downplay the tension of 2016, suggesting the heated tone simply reflected the intensity of a campaign.

“That’s like asking a boxer why he punched someone in the face in the third round,” Rubio told CNN when asked about his previous comments. “It’s because they were boxing.”

Rubio was first elected to the Senate in 2010 as part of the tea party wave of Republicans flooding into Washington. He quickly gained a reputation as someone who could embody a more diverse, welcoming Republican Party. He was a key member of a group that worked on a 2013 immigration law that included a path to citizenship for millions of people in the country illegally.

But that legislation stalled in the House of Representatives, where more conservative Republicans were in control, signaling the sharp turn to the right that the party — and Rubio — would soon embrace. Now Rubio says he supports Trump’s plan to use the U.S. military to deport those in the country illegally.

“We’re going to have to do something, unfortunately, we’re going to have to do something dramatic,” Rubio said in a May interview with NBC.

He also repeats many of Trump’s attacks on his opponents, as well as his false or unproven theories about voter fraud. After Trump was convicted of 34 crimes In what New York prosecutors accused of a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election, Rubio wrote a column for Newsweek saying Trump was “being held hostage” in court for “a sham political show trial like the communists used against their political opponents in Cuba and the Soviet Union.”

Trump, meanwhile, has withdrawn his push as president to ban TikTok in the United States, and he recently opened his own account on the platform.

A bill that would oblige the Chinese company ByteDance sell TikTok or risk a ban in the United States was supported by Rubio even as Trump opposed the effort.

Rubio’s Democratic counterpart on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Chairman Mark Warner of Virginia, praised the choice.

“I worked with Marco Rubio on the Intelligence Committee for more than a decade, especially closely over the last several years in his role as Vice Chairman. Although we don’t always agree, he is smart and talented and will continue to be so. a powerful voice for American interests around the world,” Warner said in a statement.

Earlier Wednesday, Trump announced that longtime aide Dan Scavino will serve as deputy without giving up a specific portfolio, campaign political director James Blair will serve as deputy for legislative, political and public affairs, and Taylor Budowich will serve as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel. All will hold the rank of Assistant to the President.

Trump also formally announced that Stephen Miller, an immigration hardliner, will become deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. This was confirmed earlier on Monday by newly elected Vice President JD Vance.

Blair was the political director of Trump’s campaign and, once Trump became the presumptive Republican Party nominee, the political director of the Republican National Committee. He previously worked on Trump’s 2020 campaign in Florida and was a top aide to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Scavino was a senior adviser to Trump’s campaign and during his first term in the White House, he worked as social media director.

He started working for Trump as a caddy at one of Trump’s golf courses, and was part of the small group of staffers who traveled around the country with the president throughout the campaign. He regularly posts memes and videos of Trump’s campaign travels online, cataloging the campaign from the inside on social media.

Before joining the campaign, Budowich worked for the pro-Trump Super PAC, Maga Inc., and after Trump left office, Budowich served as his spokesperson while working for Trump’s political action committee, Save America.

“Dan, Stephen, James and Taylor were best in class advisors to my winning campaign, and I know they will serve the American people honorably in the White House,” Trump said in a statement. “They will continue to work hard to Make America Great Again in their respective new roles.”

Miller is one of Trump’s longest-serving aides, dating back to his first campaign for the White House. He was a senior adviser during Trump’s first term and played a central role in many of his policy decisions, particularly on immigration, including Trump’s move to separate thousands of immigrant families as a deterrent program in 2018.

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Colvin reported from New York and Miller reported from Washington.