Mike Pompeo and Nikki Haley are out

Underlining how he intends to appoint only super-loyal individuals to his cabinet, Donald Trump has announced that he is not going to give a job to either Mike Pompeo, his former secretary of state and CIA director, or Nikki Haley who was ambassador to the United Nations in the first Trump administration. Pompeo wanted to be defence secretary and Haley would probably have been eager to serve in the Trump cabinet. But Trump doesn't trust them. Haley, of course, campaigned against him to be the Republican nominee and lasted longer than any of his other rivals. She has also, in the past, been critical of Trump's perceived involvement in the attempt to prevent Joe Biden from taking over as president in January 2021. She took a long time to endorse Trump for the nomination. Pompeo, likewise, although he decided not to stand against Trump, didn't exactly rush to endorse his former boss. That would have been seen as disloyal by Trump who has neatly taken his revenge by declaring in a message on his social media platform that he doesn't want them in his cabinet. Ouch! But the message is clear. He wants not just loyalty but subservience. So, this time, there will be no hawking around for a decent retired general to take over the Pentagon. He will want a devoted, adoring man or possibly woman at the Defence Department who will take his orders and get the military to do as they are told. I thought it would be the very right wing Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton but he has already said he doesn't want the job. So there! Keep looking, Trump.