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Trump transition live updates: Trump announces pick for energy secretary

Chris Wright has expressed strong opposition to climate change action.

ByMeredith Deliso, Alexandra Hutzler, Ivan Pereira, and Julia Reinstein
Last Updated: November 17, 2024, 6:57 PM EST

After a sweeping victory over Vice President Kamala Harris on Nov. 5, President-elect Donald Trump is now set to become just the second ever to serve nonconsecutive terms in office.

Trump has wasted no time in moving to assemble his team for a second term in the White House -- naming Susie Wiles as his chief of staff, Florida Rep. Mike Waltz as his national security adviser and Tom Homan as his "border czar," among other positions.

Inauguration Day is Jan. 20.

Key Headlines

Here's how the news is developing.
Nov 12, 3:45 pm

Tracking those Trump has named to serve in his Cabinet, administration

Ahead of his return to power in January, Trump is announcing who he wants to fill Cabinet positions and other key roles inside his administration.

They include some of his staunchest allies on Capitol Hill and key advisers to his 2024 campaign.

Here is a running list of the people Trump has selected, or is expected to select, to serve in his administration.

12:59 PM EST

Austin and defense ministers discuss Hegseth nomination and war in Ukraine

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani held a press conference Sunday following their trilateral defense ministers meeting in Darwin, Australia.

The three leaders were asked about how they think President-elect Donald Trump's administration will affect the war in Ukraine, defense secretary nominee Pete Hegseth's qualifications to lead the Department of Defense and the North Korean troops deployed to fight alongside the Russian military in Ukraine.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a joint news conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., Oct. 31, 2024.
Alex Wong/Getty Images

Marles said he looks "forward to building a relationship" with Hegseth, calling the defense secretary position a "huge global role," and said the Fox News host has "an enormous challenge ahead of him."

"Everything that I've heard about Pete Hegseth since his name became public, is in terms of in the context of becoming the secretary of defense, has been positive, and I approached the prospect of getting to know Pete Hegseth and working with him with enormous optimism," Marles said.

Austin said, "it's the prerogative the president elect to nominate whoever he deems appropriate to serve on his cabinet," and that the Pentagon is "focused on a smooth and an effective transition."

-ABC News' Nathan Luna

Nov 16, 2024, 4:42 PM EST

Trump taps fracking company executive for energy secretary

President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that Chris Wright is his nominee to lead the Department of Energy.

Wright, who must be approved by the Senate, is the chief executive of Liberty Energy – the world’s second-largest fracking services company – and is one of the industry’s most outspoken critics of the effort to combat climate change.

"There is no climate crisis, and we're not in the midst of an energy transition either," Wright said in a video posted to LinkedIn last year.

A 2021 study published in the environmental journal Environmental Research Letters, found that 99% of climate scientists agree that humans are causing global warming and climate change.

"I think by far the biggest challenge with climate change today is policies pursued in the name of climate change that make energy more expensive and less reliable," Wright told the Heritage Foundation last year.

In this Jan. 12, 2018, file photo, Liberty Oilfield Services Inc. CEO Chris Wright laughs as he celebrates the companies IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York.
Lucas Jackson/Reuters, FILE

According to the World Resources Institute, “solar and wind now provide the cheapest power for 67% of the world” and in the United States, wind is the cheapest source of new bulk electricity per megawatt-hour.

"As Secretary of Energy, Chris will be a key leader, driving innovation, cutting red tape, and ushering in a new 'Golden Age of American Prosperity and Global Peace,'" Trump said.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Peter Charalambous and Matthew Glasser

Nov 16, 2024, 3:55 PM EST

Trump names another one of his lawyers to White House staff

President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that William Owen Scharf, an attorney who represented him in several cases including the Supreme Court case involving presidential immunity, will serve as assistant to the president and White House staff secretary.

"Will is a highly skilled attorney who will be a crucial part of my White House team," Trump said in a Truth Social Post.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa

Nov 15, 2024, 7:34 PM EST

Trump to return to MSG Saturday for UFC fight: Source

President-elect Donald Trump is expected to attend Saturday night’s UFC Fight: UFC 309: Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic at Madison Square Garden, a source familiar with Trump's planning told ABC News.

He is planning on spending the night in New York on Saturday and will return to Florida on Sunday, according to the source.

-ABC News' Lalee Ibssa, Soo Rin Kim and Kelsey Walsh